Fable
by Kuragari Kagirinai
Summary: AU S/J In the times of lore there existed magic, heroes and monsters. Meet our bravest knight Jounouchi Katsuya, and acompany him on his journey of adventure, love and power.
1. Prologue: Too Bad

_A/N: I'm quite new to the fanfiction world. So maybe you can cut a guy some slack?_

**Fable**

Prologue: Too Bad

In the times of lore, when Zelda was Princess of Hyrule and Lancelot had yet to betray Aurthur, there existed magic, heroes and monsters. Nothing was as meets the eye. Demons in the form of friends, truths in the form of lies. And yet with all these dangers and mysteries, righteousness and chivalry reigned above all. Many a knight traveled far and wide to preform gracious acts of honor for their Kings.

All but one.

Jounouchi Katsuya. Honorable knight above all others, yet without a King. Rumors would tell of his bravery, his honor, and is courage to face death with a heroic grin. Any crown would be willing to have him complete the most daring and dangerous tasks that even their own best would become shaky-kneed just to hear. And always Jounouchi would accept, for nothing, with the exclusion of spiders, could scare him off.

But all good things must come to an end. Thus, or story begins.

One fateful day in the Kingdom of Cephiro, the King and Queen tearfully asked a quest of our hero Jounouchi . . .

"Please brave knight, we only ask thee of one thing."

Jounouchi looked up from his kneeling position before the crowns. "Milord and Lady, you know that I shall undertake any quest for the benefit of your people. Is all you must do is ask." he said with his trademark grin.

"Oh my, thou art honorable brave knight!" The Queen said with a slight blush to her tear streaked cheeks.

The King grunted but made no response to his wife's foolishness. "Brave knight, we ask of the safe return of our only child, Princess Emeurade, the heir to the throne and the love of our people."

At the mere mention of her missing daughter's name, the Queen burst into tears once more. Jounouchi suppressed a grimace at the Queen and smiled instead. "Yes, of course."

The King sighed in obvious relief and whispered something to the guard next to him, who nodded and left with a 'Yes your Majesty.'

Jounouchi stood up and looked the King squarely in the eye for effect. "Please Milord, tell me of what I must do to bring your precious daughter back into your arms."

The Queen hiccuped, while the King continued to ignore her. "Many a knight have already failed to return her and in turn have lost what is most important to them. Some it was their life, others the life of a loved one. And for a few it was all that they had ever lived for." Jounouchi nodded, he'd heard it all before, it was nothing new to him. "There are three trials that thou shall overcome. First you shall travel the swampish lands of Drekkan."

"Woah, woah, woah! You mean I _have _to travel through that resentful infested place again?" Jounouchi interrupted, earning himself a glare from the King. He mentally slapped himself. He accidentally slipped out of his role of acting stuck up and educated. He cleared his throat nervously. "I mean, can I not go around? Is there no other way?"

The King shook his head. "The kingdom was built on the edge of Drekkan as a strategic zone. It was done thus as to keep her enemies at bay. The only way in or out is through Drekkan."

"I see..."

"That is how you came to be here is it not? Through Drekkan?" the Queen asked, followed by a quiet sniff.

"Yes Milady it is, but I do not take a liking to resentfuls. Killing the dead is not as easy as one would presume."

The King cleared his throat to get attention once more. "Brave knight, that is but one task you must overcome." Jounouchi nodded. "Second you must defeat the Gate Keeper. No other has been able to kill him and return to his home to tell his tale, for his strength is immeasurable and his ruthlessness intolerable. I warn thee to be weary in your meeting of him."

Jounouchi huffed. He couldn't even count the number of times he'd been told something like that. "And the third?"

"Third you must find the way through a maze that is the castle in which Emeurade is being held." the King said with a frown. "It was built as such to confuse enemies and all those who have once known the paths of the castle have all since perished by an unknowing hand." the King sighed.

Jou stopped for a second to think. 'This might be a slight problem. I could easily get lost in an unknown place for days...'

"Do not dwell upon it too long brave knight." the Queen began, "Thou shall be able to overcome any obstacle in thy path. I have faith in thee."

He gave a curt nod, he was really getting annoyed with court speech. "Milord, Lady, I should be on my way now." he said with a small bow of respect that he really didn't have for them. With that he began to turn on his heel to exit the castle.

"Wait, brave knight." the King said holding up a hand. Jou turned to face them again. "We wish to give thee preservations and equipment for your journey."

Jounouchi stopped. "Thank you Milord. I'd gratefully accept any ration you have to offer, but you can keep your equipment. I carry no crowns sigil." he bowed in what he hoped looked like an apologetic manner.

"Ah yes. I apologize brave knight, for in my excitement I forgot of your values. Please accept this food and drink that shall last but three days."

"Yes, thank you Milord for your generosity." Jou remained calm on the outside, even though only one thing was running through his mind at that point. 'Free food. Free food.' He heard armored footsteps coming from his right. Turning to see who it was, he recognized the man to be the same guard that the King had spoken with earlier. The man handed him a small pack of supplies. He grabbed the bag and studied the contents closely.

'Woah...' he thought wide-eyed. He knew that he had a large appetite, but did they think he ate like a starved cow? There was enough food and water skins in here to last a week or more.

"T-thank you Milord." he stammered.

The King smiled. "You may take your leave now."

"Yes." Jounouchi bowed again, slightly deeper this time. He shouldered his new pack and he left without looking back.

He was off to fulfill his duty, what he believed to be his destiny... If only he knew the truth.

As soon as he stepped foot outside the city walls and into the cursed lands of Drekkan, his good luck party from the townspeople came to an abrupt stop and they all went back to their daily lives.

"It's about time." Jounouchi said with a huff. "I really hate acting like I have a stick wedged up my ass." he sighed and stretched his arms above his head briefly before letting one fall to his side and the other to the hilt of his prized great sword. "Well, time to get going... The sooner I'm outta here, the happier I'll be."

So our hero began his journey. Slowly making his way through the muck of the land and cursing each of the Four Gods: Ra, Ihy, Yah, and Seth (1), each time his boot got stuck in a particularly clingy patch of mud.

Soon the sun began to set and Jounouchi was becoming more and more prudent, his hand twitching over his hilt.

"Damn I hate this place at night." Jou growled. "Resentfuls are going to be crawling all over the place in a few--"

He stopped when he saw a shadow flit across his vision. He took a defensive position and unsheathed his great sword, gripping it tight in both hands.

After a few moments, nothing happened. "Dammit. Where'd it get to?" he cursed. He knew that there was a resentful close by, he could _feel_ it, and there was no way his eyes would play tricks on him.

He took in an angry breath and stepped back hesitantly. As soon as he did, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Quickly he pivoted on his back heel and slashed his sword down in a diagonal; all one fluid movement.

Next came the ear piercing shriek of the resentful that Jounouchi had cut down. Jou held his ears in pain and sighed in relief when it suddenly stopped. The corpse on the ground began to wither.

Jounouchi knelt next to the corpse and clasped his hands together in prayer. Soon a small glint of light rose from the chest of the cadaver. He looked at it with a small smile as it seemed to stroke his face with the affection of a mother, then drift away slowly, only to disappear.

"What is it you are doing?" a low voice said from behind him. Jou whipped around and kept a low defensive crouch. With his hand on the hilt of his great sword once more, he took the time to glare at the intruder.

This stranger was a tall man with ocean blue eyes and chestnut colored hair. His garb consisted only of a fine blue fabric that fit loosely over his thin body and was fastened around his middle by a leather belt. Jounouchi's eyes narrowed. This man was _bound_ to be killed in record time. Not only did he dress for his death, but everything about him, from his leather boot clad feet to the tip of his perfectly done hair, screamed nobleman. Compared to Jou's bronze chain mail and leather studded armor, this guy might as well be running around in the nude and receive the same amount of protection.

"What the hell are _you _doing?" Jounouchi spat. The man raised a delicate brow.

"Strange. Did I not just ask _you _that?" Jou snorted and the man frowned in distaste. "Fine. If you really must know, I'm traveling." the man said in a bored tone as he examined his fingernails idly.

"Dressed like that?" Jounouchi muttered to himself, even though his company heard him.

"Is there a problem? I doubt someone as lowly as yourself could afford to even touch this type of fabric, let alone wear it."

'Definitely noble.' Jou thought sourly. He sighed and stood up from his defensive position. The poor stupid, stupid rich guy. He was certainly lucky that Jou was so kind hearted. "Well... Is it safe to assume that you have a death wish? Or are you just an idiot?" The mans face contorted into a deep scowl. Quickly Jou searched the man for a weapon, but he found nothing but a short golden rod attached to the mans side. Nothing dangerous. Just some rich stick.

"I should be asking you the same." the brunet sighed and angrily rubbed his temples. He turned his gaze downwards towards the corpse. "Did you see that?" he asked absently.

Jou looked down at the corpse to see if it had moved. It was in the exact same position, so he figured he must've been talking about earlier. "Of course I did." Jou said. "How else would I have killed it so fast?"

"That wasn't what I had meant..." He trailed off and glared at Jounouchi. "I do not have the need to explain myself to the likes of you."

Jou shrugged. "So? You're just like a stick in the mud." The blue eyed man glared even harder at Jou, who didn't even flinch. "But you're seriously wasting my time. If you want you can come with me. I'd feel bad if you had your soul eaten because I didn't offer to help."

"What do you think you are? Some kind of 'brave knight'?"

Jou grinned sadly. "Something like that."

The man stared at Jou intently. "... I'll... join you... for the time being." He paused. "What is thy name?"

The sudden formality threw Jou off track for a few moments. "I-I'm Jounouchi Katsuya! Jou for short." Jou extended his hand in greeting. "And you are?"

The man waved Jou's hand away and smirked. "You can call me Master. I'll be paying for your services also. Hence the name Master."

It took Jounouchi all he had to not tackle the brunet to the ground. "I ain't no charity! I don't need any of your damned money!" He took in a shaky breath. "How 'bout I call you something more appropriate? Like troll face? Or... um..."

The taller smirked. "What? Run out of lame comebacks already?"

Jou fumed. "Augh! Whatever! Let's get a move on. I'd like to be out of here by tomorrow's nightfall. Ya damn stick in the mud."

:-:o:-:

After a few long hours of silent traveling, Jou saw another dark figure flit across his line of sight.

"Oi stick in the mud, stay on your toes." Jou said, grateful that the land was no longer extremely muddy, a sure sign that they were getting closer to the edge of Drekkan.

The brunet stepped behind Jounouchi and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

Jou took a quick glance at him. "There's a resentful lurkin' 'round close by..." This time time Jou saw two more ominous shapes in the corner of his eye. Hurriedly his mind went into overdrive trying to think of a strategy to handle the current situation. There was always the option of running away like a little girl, which he favored right now, but he'd never get away lugging the other around. Fighting was the next option, but there was no way he could fight more than one resentful without leaving the other open to a life threating attack. Drawing up a blank in his mind Jou cursed loudly. "Fuck."

The man's brows furrowed. "What? Can... can you _sense_ them or something?"

Jou shook his head. "It's something like that." Quickly he assessed his surroundings. There had to be at least two of them, three if things were bad and four in the worst possible case. Suddenly he came up with an idea. "Can you fight?" he asked drawing his sword. "There might be more than I can handle myself..."

The brunet's face contorted into thought. Seemingly having and inner argument with himself. Finally he spoke. "I can use... meager magics, but that is all."

"Alright, good to know. Be ready for a fight though." The man nodded and they continued on their way slowly, facing back to back, each in their own defensive stance. Jou had his sword drawn, gripped tightly, yet comfortably. His knees were bent, ready to jump out of the way in a moments notice and slice. The blue eyed man was standing slightly stiff, a hand in front of his chest in a grand gesture, and a spell ready on his lips.

"Number?" the man asked quietly, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Jou shook his head, then realized that the other couldn't see, he replied, "Two, maybe three... Ra, I hope not four."

"You favor Ra?" the brunet asked, amusement clear in his voice. But before Jou could answer, his amusement disappeared and he returned to the subject at hand. "Now what did you mean _maybe_ . . ." the coming insult trailed from Jounouchi's ears as he lunged suddenly to the left driving his sword forward into the green-gray flesh of a resentfuls chest. It still disturbed Jou as to how resentfuls didn't bleed when cut. He grit his teeth against the shrill voice in his ears and yanked his sword upwards completely silencing the cadaver as it split in two.

He brought a hand up to rub his ear as he returned to his position behind the blue eyed man. "So loud..."

"What are you talking about?" the man asked and looked at Jou over his shoulder.

"How can you not hear that?" Jou glared back over his own shoulder. "They are practically screaming their... souls... out." he trailed off unexpectedly. "Just shut up! No one asked you, bastard!"

The taller glared at Jou before looking sharply over Jounouchi's shoulder. The sudden break in eye contact forced Jou to take in his surroundings.

"Watch out!" Jou yelled while the other grunted. Jou turned around fully to face the man, but he was too occupied to notice that the taller was doing the same. Swiftly he raised his prized great sword over the man's shoulder with great precision and thrust. Jou tried not to grin when the taller man paled slightly, for just one wrong movement and the blade of Jou's sword would surely leave a scar on his face that no one would be able to forget. Even so he concentrated on his task.

Jounouchi suppressed another grin as the tip of his sword met the face of his target. As he pushed harder into the resentful there was a sudden blinding light, and a sense of familiar magic crawled up his exposed skin.

Confused Jou looked at the man, and for the first time he noticed exactly how close they were. Their breath was mingling within each other's pleasantly, their faces only a scarce inch or two apart. Limbs were spread to make room for the other's and yet neither moved. "What?" Jou breathed, "Holy...? Pr--" Jou was cut off by the piercing shrieks of the two resentfuls that had just been slain. Jounouchi's eyes widened in pain and he let go of his prized sword to clutch his ears, allowing his weapon to drop to the ground, still embedded in the face of the resentful.

He fell to his knees and bit his lip to keep from screaming. 'Never again...' he thought as the shrieks came to a sudden halt. Shaking slightly, Jou uncupped his ears and brought his hands to the ground to rest on the soft tresses of grass that were beginning to grow.

The brunet was looking down at him with a face of well hidden surprise and confusion. "What...?"

Jounouchi sighed and shook his blond mop of hair. "Don't you worry yourself about it." he muttered, not moving from his spot. He concentrated on the souls of the dead resentfuls. He had to guide them. It was his job, whether he liked it or not. But hell if he was going to tell this bastard that. Soon enough the small glints of light arose from the bodies. Jou watched with a morbid fascination as the lights drifted towards him. As the souls brushed through his hair, he had to suppress a grin. He loved the way that the souls had needed him for guidance and how grateful they were towards him.

As the souls drifted away and disappeared, he stood slowly and pressed a palm to his head. "Ugh... Headache..." The blue eyed man snorted to try and hide the look of shock that Jou almost didn't see.

Jou just looked at the man with mild confusion before stomping the ground firmly with his foot and grinning. But before the man could retort at Jou's seemingly stupid act, Jou cut him off. "Solid ground! I'd say a couple of hours left and we'll be outta this hell hole!"

The brunet crossed his arms over his chest, giving him an air of power and authority -which Jou ignored completely- and nodded. "Then lets go." The man's thin, yet slightly toned, arms and he began to walk with Jou close behind.

"Soooo..." the blond said after a few quiet minutes. "Are you ever gunna tell me your name?"

The man looked back and raised a graceful brow. "Gunna?" he asked, a smirk firmly rooted on his narrow face.

Jounouchi forced down a small blush of embarrassment. "Ewrrr... It's... like um... commoner, for going to..."

"Then why not just say going to?" the man's smirk widened.

Jou shrugged. "Gunna is just easier to say is all."

The blue eyed man sighed in distaste. "Hmph. It wouldn't kill you to enunciate every once and a while... and no."

Jounouchi barked out a short laugh. "It just might.. No what?"

"No I shall not give thee my name." he spoke slow and deliberate court speech.

Jou rolled his honey brown eyes. "I only ask thee for thous namesake, for thou hast thine." Jou smirked. What better way to fight fire, than with more fire?

The taller's smirk wavered slightly. "Hmm. Seems as if this dog knows some tricks." he said as he quickened his pace a bit.

Jou moved his legs faster to keep up. "Well it's not like I... Hey! I am _not _a dog! You bastard!"

The brunet's smirk widened even further as Jou managed to trip over an exposed tree root in his anger, falling to his hands and knees. The taller stopped walking and stood in front of Jounouchi, his hands on his hips. "So the dog has to beg his master..."

Jou growled as he felt his face flush with anger. He glared at the other, ready to yell and scream at him until his throat was raw. That was until he saw something shine faintly on the face of the taller, right underneath one of his oceanic eyes.

Those blue eyes narrowed to a glare as Jou just sat there and stared at his face. Before he could say anything about it, Jou broke out into a huge grin, catching the other off his guard.

"What are you smiling at?" the brunet spat, only to make Jounouchi grin wider.

Jou stood and pointed upwards to the thick overhang of the trees. "There's sunlight!" he exclaimed and then proceeded to point to the other's face. "It's shining on your face." he finished as an explanation.

The man's eye twitched momentarily before he spun on his heels and started to stalk away.

Jou -only slightly confused- followed him without hesitation. 'Wonder what got into him.' he thought idly. 'Maybe sunlight really pisses him off...' he snickered inwardly. 'Well, that would explain why he is so pale.'

The man stopped suddenly after what seemed to be an eternity of walking. "Here." he said gruffly.

"Here?" Jounouchi repeated, confused he stepped into place next to the other.

The brunet grunted and pulled back some of the thick foliage in front of the two to reveal a large setting sun and the end of the dark trees. "The end of Drekkan." the other stated.

Jou stared at the sunset for a few moments. "Finally!" he said with a large grin and stepped through to the clearing. Fresh green grass grew long and in thick patches. Large lush trees scattered around sporadically, the air clear and free of the dank scent of moss and mud. "And it's before nightfall too! Right on time."

He gave a crooked grin to the brunet, who had yet to say anything, and yawned. "You hungry?" Jou asks and heads over to a tall maple tree; away from Drekkan.

"No." the man says in a flat tone as he follows Jou to the tree.

"Hm." Jou takes off his pack of food and sits down. Motioning for the other to do the same he says, "Well too bad. Yer gettin' some."

The other glared at him until he realized it was a waste of effort and sat down across from Jou.

"Here!" Jounouchi said, handing the brunet a waterskin, some bread, meat and cheese. "It's all I have really, but there is plenty of it." he says with a shrug and starts to eat.

Blue eyes watch the other eat before he begins to eat himself.

As they finish the blond yawns loudly and rests his back against the tree. "Sooo... stick in the mud, where you headed to now?" he asks, his eyelids drooping sleepily.

The brunet smirked. "Home." he answers.

Jou smiles and his head falls back to hit the trunk of the tree lightly. "Mmm... Home eh? 'Sa nice place ta be." his speech begins to slur slightly. "Kinda wish I had one..."

"What?" the taller asks, confused. But all that could be heard were soft snores rising from the blond's mouth. The brunet smirks.

:-:o:-:

The next morning Jou wakes up to the rising sun in his eyes. With a groan he sat up and rubbed his head. Looking around he noticed that he was the only one present.

"Huh? Where's stick in the mud?" he stretched his arms above his head and sighed. Spotting a small bag sitting next to him he picks it up and looks at it wearily. "What's this?" Pulling off a piece of parchment attached to the mouth of the bag with twine, he opens it and stares into it.

"Ra damn that rich guy!" he yells. "I told him I didn't want his damned charity!" Calming down slightly he looked at the parchment clutched in his hand. Opening it slightly he read the neatly written message written in blue ink.

_Too bad._

Jou shook his mop of hair and laughed heartily. "Looks like he used my own words against me." He stuffed the small pouch of money into his pack and shouldered it once more before heading out, small smile constantly present on his features.

**End Prologue**

(1): The Four Gods in this fiction are all Egyptian Gods. Surprised? Yeah. Didn't think so... Ra: God of the sun. Ihy: God of Music. Yah: God of the Moon. Seth: God of Chaos.

_A/N: Hm. Please review, so I know I am generating interest. Why post if no one cares ne? -- Kuragari_


	2. Chapter 1: Gate Keeper?

_A/N: After hours of editing and elaborating emerges the first chapter._

(!) _Disclaimer- Kuragari doesn't own Y-G-O or the characters by any means. Kuragari does not make money from writing this fiction, nor will he ever. Kuragari also takes no credit for the Magical Knight Rayearth references. Suing this author is not permitted in any state, country, or local residential area. Too bad._

**Fable**

Chapter One: The Gate Keeper?

Jounouchi sighed as he took another look down at the carefully drawn map as he walked down a slightly overgrown path. "Where the hell is Zagato Castle on this damned thing?" he grumbled, resisting the urge to rip the confounded piece of paper in half. Jou scanned the paper once more but instead he sought for the nearest town.

"Ah there we go." he said with a grin as he spotted a small town marker that was close to his position. "Looks like I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way..." Using the slowly setting sun as a quick compass, he set his feet in the direction of the town and began to walk.

Little did he know, his actions were under watch.

oOo

Oceanic eyes train onto the surface of a small pond that was located in a quaint garden, full of exotic and blooming plants.

"Big brother!" a young boy's voice rang through the garden. Soon a small boy scrambled up behind the sitting form of the brunet. "Seto, the court has summoned you..." he panted.

"Tell them I'm busy." he said, not even bothering to look back at his little brothers slightly flustered face.

"Huh? What are you doing?" the short boy with wild black hair began to try and peek over his brother's shoulder, but failed miserably as the other would push him back gently with an arm. "Come on Seto! What could be so important that you would ignore a court summons?" the younger whined.

"Nothing that concerns you, Mokuba."

Mokuba scrunched up his face and placed his hands on his hips, even though Seto couldn't see him. With a wolfish grin Mokuba aimed low and quickly snaked himself around Seto's waist and plopped himself in his lap.

Seto was shocked beyond words, but he quickly gathered his lost wits. "What are you doing?" he hissed. He was less than pleased when his brother decided to ignore him and stare intently at the surface of the pond, his gray eyes flashing curiously as he watched a blond teen walk through a particularly creepy part of a forest.

"Who is that?" Mokuba asked pointing to the chain mail clad teen.

"A man." Seto replied flatly.

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I can see that. But what is so important about him? Do you have a crush on him or something?"

The brunet scowled deeply. "No. You are quite wrong... he is not attractive to me, in any way. In fact, I find him to be suspicious."

"Suspicious? What do you think he's doing? Does it have anything to do with that one girl you locked up recently? You know... that Princess from the kingdom that favors Ihy?"

"Emeurade." Seto supplied.

"Yeah, her. Is that why?" Mokuba looked up into his brothers stoic face hoping that he would get a straight answer.

Seto nodded his head then shook it. "Perhaps. That is why I watch."

"You must really like that Eme-- Emerald?-- whatever, a lot." he asked with a smirk. "I mean I know it wasn't really your choice, but maybe you're starting to fall for her?" Mokuba got no response from the brunet. "I've heard that she's really pretty, and kind too. Her people just love her. Maybe that's why you are so protective?...or is it just another game to you?" Mokuba's last guess was granted a smirk from the taller. "Ugh. Seto... What's wrong?" he followed Seto's eyes to the images on the surface of the pond once again. He sighed and started to stand up when he was pulled back by a strong arm. "H-hey!" he protested weakly.

"Watch." the brunet commanded. Mokuba did as he was told, eyes going back to the blond figure in the pond.

It seemed that the teen was snared in a thick bundle of branches. He was struggling to free himself and Mokuba was sure that if they could hear him Seto would cover his ears. After a few more moments of struggle the blond seemed to break free. As he began to proceed down the path, two gnarly branches in the shape of hands wound themselves around his shoulders and pulled him against the trunk of the tree owning the 'branch hands'.

"Woah! Seto! Th-that tree thing!" Mokuba exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at the image.

"Is an ent (1). They are common in that part of the world... Didn't you learn this during your studies?" Seto tried to explain, almost scoffing at his brothers lack of knowledge of things outside of this kingdom.

Mokuba nodded. "Well yeah... But it's just different when you see it for real..." with a small sigh Mokuba just shook his head and started to watch the blond again.

The blond was flailing helplessly against the tree. His arms were effectively pinned under the tree's own. He began kicking his heels into the trunk of the offending tree, leaving large crescent shaped dents in its trunk, but it showed no signs of relenting its fierce grip.

"Big brother he..." Seto gently placed a hand over Mokuba's mouth to silence him. Taking a hint he pouted silently to himself as he watched the blond's struggles become less and less. "The tree is killing him! He can't breathe!" he yelled, worried for the life of this stranger.

Seto just grunted and continued watching. As the blond's body became limp, his slightly bluish lips -from lack of oxygen- began moving as if he was speaking to someone.

'Must be praying.' Seto thought idly.

Both brothers and the blond were surprised when the tree caught aflame. They watched as the tree dropped the blond, who was able to roll away and deftly draw his blade in a swift movement.

Mokuba carefully noted how the blond was gasping for precious air as a faint glint of ... something ... brushed past him and disappeared.

"Seto, what was that light just now?" he asked in a hushed, and yet slightly awed voice.

"I have yet to find out." When the blond in the pond smiled and dropped his guard in recognition, Seto was positive he was about to find out the answer to what was going on when suddenly the image went blank, making Seto cry out in outrage.

"What? This shouldn't be happening!" he yelled at the pond. As Seto continued to rant in a controlled anger, Mokuba stared thoughtfully into the now blank pond.

"You're right big brother. He is... suspicious."

oOo

Jou had finally made his way out of the forest and into the outskirts of the small town he had seen on his map.

"Man I'm so glad to be out of there! I mean sheesh! Attacked by an ent? Who woulda thunk?" he laughed casually and roughly shoved the fact that he was moments from death to the back of his mind. "I must be really lucky today. I never thought that --"

"Oi! Strang'ner! Ya gone gots yerself lost?" Jounouchi's head snapped in the direction of the voice that had interrupted him. There was a rather plump farmer man in a straw hat and a pair of half done overalls standing on the other side of a fence protecting the crops of a bean field.

"Uh... No... Not exactly... I don't think." Jou said slowly, trying to decipher what exactly the man had asked, while he eyed his pitchfork carefully.

"Ya sure? I ain't no smart-tart, butcha sure dun looks femiliar. Ya know?"

'What the hell is he saying?!' Jou panicked in his mind before smiling to the man. "Ya I guess so... could you tell me where the nearest tavern is?"

The man snorted in what Jounouchi thought might have delight. "Ya fancy a glass do ya? Well jus' down ta road thar an' 's ta one wit a iron cock on ta door."

Jou did his best to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground. 'Think farmer! Think farmer! Um... Uh... Cock means... Rooster! Yes, rooster! Iron rooster, iron rooster, iron rooster!' Quickly he tried to remove the images that the man's words had brought to his mind. He was failing miserably.

"I ain't gots no more time ta be awast'n. Didja git watcha was look'n fer? Ya best hurry up, ya hear?"

Jou smiled at the plump farmer with some difficulties. "Yes. Thanks." As soon he was out of earshot of the man he began to rant. "Seth! I could barely understand a word that man said! I mean there is a difference between speaking easily and.. and language abuse! I mean really! Is all I got from that guy is door, iron rooster, and hurry!" he tossed his arms up in frustration. Looking around he noticed he was in the middle of a street packed with people all staring at him. "Oh." he said simply before searching each building he passed for an iron rooster on the door.

The tavern was easier to find than he thought it would be. It looked like it was the center of the whole town. The place was stuffed with a variety of people being served by busty waitresses in low cut, frilly, two piece dresses.

Jounouchi looked around for an empty spot, only finding few to none. With a sigh he took a seat at the bar next to an old man with an extremely strange hat, and a rather depressed looking red headed woman.

"Just get me something with taste." he said with a friendly wave of his hand to the burly bartender.

"Hmm? Wuz tis? Looks we have ourselvez a new face!" The old man next to Jou said, swinging his mug around causing its contents to swish around and occasionally spill. The man had a short shaggy gray beard and slightly pinked cheeks from the alcohol. His eyes and mouth were bordered with cheery wrinkles and his hat -which Jou swore to Ihy looked like a birds nest- was pushed high onto his head. Overall he seemed like an okay guy.

As Jou was about to strike up a conversation with the guy he was interrupted by a sad voice on his other side. "Just ignore him." came the monotonous voice. He looked over to see the depressed woman didn't even bother to look at him. She was now in the middle of downing a mug. She was dressed in a dark green blouse and skirt with a black vest and accessories, accenting her wild red hair nicely. Jou guessed that she was somewhere in her mid-twenties.

"'Sokay laddie. Zis poor woman just lost her huzband." Jou nodded slightly as the bartender set a mug of... something... in front of him. "What bringz a lad like you ta a place like tis?" the man asked adjusting his nest hat.

"Well," he started to say and took a quick sip of the stuff in front of him. It didn't taste that bad. "I'm lookin' fer a place called Zagato Castle, but 's not on muh map 'ere. See?" Jounouchi easily slipped into what nobles called commoner tongue and pulled out his map to show the other man what he was talking about.

Bird man, as Jou had now dubbed him, snatched the map from his hands with nimble fingers. "Hrm. Tiz a nice map laddie."

Jou quickly recognized the glint in the man's eyes and shook his head. "A friend gave it ta meh. Said it wuz 'cuz I traveled 'round a lot."

The woman next to him hummed in her mug. "I see more than that stranger. Perhaps we could come to an agreement?" Her dull emerald gaze fixed onto his honey one.

"Ah, so ya wants ta haggle wit me?" he asked, a smile on his lips as he snatched his map back from bird man. "So lady, tell me whatcha want fer yer information."

"I also seek information. But an opinion as well." she said with an uninterested shrug.

"Hm.. Alright! Now that sounds like a deal ta me!"

"If you would follow me then." the woman stood and walk slowly towards an empty booth in the shadows of the tavern. Jounouchi gave her an uncertain glance before following her, a hand on his great sword hilt.

He sat opposite of the woman and they stared at each other for a few long moments before the red head finally spoke. "What is your name stranger?"

"What's yers?" he countered. Giving out personal information to strangers was not good, as he had recently figured out with that brunet man.

The woman smiled weakly before replying. "Good answer. You may call me Rosetta."

Jou nodded and thought for a moment. "Then call meh Drifter, Rosetta."

"Yes, I overheard that you travel quite a lot. To where have you traveled?" Rosetta asked, folding her thin hands on the table in front of them.

"I have been to many places, Rosetta." Jou said, suddenly serious. "I have traveled for most of my life. I've seen things most people don't even know exist, I've visited almost every kingdom, seen the different influences of the Gods. You name it and I've probably been there and seen it with my own eyes."

"And what of the Four Gods? Tell me of them."

Jou stopped for a moment to think. "Well, you know how the Four Gods all share equal power and in turn none is more powerful than the other in order to bring harmony." Rosette nodded, of course all that was common knowledge. "Let's start with Ra," he thought he was starting to sound like a school teacher, "Ra's light shines on all, yet it also burns. The one's who favor Ra are kind of ... glorified in a sense. They bask in his light but they are fully aware of the scorching of Ra's wrath."

"I see..."

"Yah is the brother of Ra. While Ra burns hot, Yah soothes. The ones who favor Yah seem to have a lot of healers and thieves among their ranks. But mostly they are secretive and kind. And unlike common belief they _do _like sunlight. I have no idea where that myth came from."

Rosetta seemed to be in deep thought, so Jou took it as a sign to continue.

"Well I'm assuming you already know quite a bit about Ihy, so I'll skip him." she nodded. "So lastly there is Seth. I really don't know much about the God himself, except that he doesn't tolerate many things and these things seem to change daily. Those who favor him usually have violent tendencies, but if you gain their respect, you're set for life."

"... And what God do you believe me to follow? For no longer can I hear the sweet music of Ihy to my ears." Rosetta's stern look told Jou that she was serious. It kinda freaked him out. "I already have forgiveness from Ihy. But I do not know where to turn. I feel very helpless without a deity."

Jou nodded in understanding. When you didn't have a favored God they all fought for your worship. "Well I haven't known you for very long Rosetta, but maybe Yah would understand? You don't strike me as someone who would be able to tolerate Ra nor Seth." he said with a grin.

"Drifter... I believe you are right. I owe you my gratitude and directions." she smiled gratefully and Jou had to admit that she looked much prettier smiling. "The fastest way to get to Zagato castle is to head directly East from the crossroads that are just a little further from here. After a while the trail veers to the right, but ignore that and continue heading East no matter what. Within a two days walk you shall come upon the front gate of Zagato Castle."

"And the Gate Keeper, correct?"

"Yes. There are many mysteries surrounding that man. Some rumors say that he possess magic given to him from Seth himself. Others say that he is but a common murderer searching for the revenge of his people that once lived in the Castle."

Silently Jounouchi absorbed this information. "Thank you kindly Rosetta. May we meet again someday." he said with a soft smile as he stood and headed for the door. "I hope you find peace with Yah." he went back to the bar and payed the bartender for the drink that bird man had been so kind as to drink for him and left.

Walking down the crowded streets he noticed many vending stalls lining the streets selling things from food to alchemy potions. 'That must be why this farming town is so populated. They have merchants here.' Smiling at his good fortune Jou bought some supplies, such as extra food, flint (hell if he was going to start a fire with sticks again), and more fresh water. All of it was purchased with the money he had gotten from the blue eyed man. 'Wonder if he ever made it home.' he thought forlornly and was pleased to find out that it was only noon.

"Well, I better get a head start while there is still good light."

oOo

Long fingers rubbed at their owners temples.

"Woah! Seto did that guy have a bird nest on his head?" Mokuba chatted excitedly.

The brunet groaned inwardly. "Mokuba why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh! The court has demanded your presence. This time they wont take no for an answer." the boy shrugged and turned back to the pond.

"Hn. Did they tell you anything?"

"I heard a couple of nobles ranting about that Princess and plans of some sort. They never really _told_ me anything except to get you." he laughed softly at the images in the pond.

"Wonderful." Seto said sarcastically as he moved to clear the pond of its images.

"Ah wait! You don't have to... I mean, I can watch him for you. He's pretty funny."

Seto paused and looked at his brother carefully before standing up to his full height. "Fine."

"Thanks big brother." Mokuba said with a smile that made Seto smile faintly back.

"If he does anything perverse cover your eyes immediately. Understood?" he said in all seriousness.

"Yes big brother." Mokuba said with a roll of his gray eyes.

"Good." And with that he left to listen to everyone babble and complain about his private life.

oOo

Jounouchi sighed heavily as the darkness became too great for him to continue onwards. Luckily there was a tree close by for him to take shelter by. He grabbed a nearby stick and dug an arrow in the soft soil so he would know which way to head in the morning.

Wearily he approached the tree as he drew his sword. He slashed the trunk of the tree and jumped back, raising his guard.

The tree didn't react.

"Okay good. Not an ent... I'm seriously starting to hate trees..."

After making double and triple sure that the tree wouldn't try and viciously murder him in his sleep, he finally stretched out beneath it to eat and finally rest.

He awoke in the early hours of the next morning. He ate quickly, cleaned his teeth with some nearby herbs, and set off again.

Jou stretched his arms above his head as the sun finally peeked over the treetops two hours later. He had made excellent time yesterday and he hoped he could make it to the Castle before sunset tonight. Hopefully he could use the shadows of the night to slip past this guardian figure.

As he ran his plan through his head he was painfully aware of the low overcast of clouds. Suddenly he stopped and shook his fist at the sky. "You better not rain ya hear?" he yelled upwards.

As if in response thunder clapped and a slight drizzle began to fall.

Jounouchi lowered his fist and continued to stare upwards into the rain. "Well shit."

oOo

Mokuba laughed outright, from his place in the brunet's lap, at the blonds antics. Over the past couple of days it had become routine for Mokuba to join Seto in his private garden to watch the suspicious blond.

It may have seemed like a waste of time to any other person, but to Mokuba any time spent with Seto was worth every second. They never really had much free time to spend together, so in a way he was grateful to this mysterious blond.

"Heh. Seto it looks like he _is_ heading to Zagato Castle. Just like you thought."

"Of course." Seto said, gloating.

"Then why don't you do anything about it?" curious gray eyes met cold blue.

There was a short pause before the brunet answered. "I am curious as to see how far he shall get."

Mokuba said nothing as he returned to watching the pond. He didn't want to say anything more to break the peace. He only had a little while longer until he had to return to his studies. He would rather leave with Seto in a good mood.

"Mokuba."

"Hm?" was the soft reply.

"You should get going soon."

"I know, I know. I just don't think it's fair that you get a break and can sit here all day." he pouts.

Seto looked down at his pouting sibling and pat his head with affection. "I'm not on break."

Mokuba gasped slightly. "Then..."

"Yes. It is the will of Ra." Mokuba seemed to wait for an explanation so he continued, only slightly annoyed. "I don't understand what is so important about this man and what his connection to Ra is, but I do intend to find out."

"Maybe he is _supposed_ to save Eme-- Eme-- the Princess..." Mokuba mused aloud.

"Perhaps... Perhaps not. It all--"

"Is the will of Ra." Mokuba finished for him, earning himself a glare. "I know Seto. I have a feeling that Ra is up to something though."

Seto gave a rude snort, "You believe that everyone is up to something."

Mokuba grinned widely before standing and stretching. "Everyone is guilty until proven innocent." he said as he left Seto alone.

"Hn." Seto watched his brother leave and turned back to watch Jounouchi. "He looks like a wet dog." he commented to himself before remaining in silent observation.

oOo

The rain began to pour down on Jounouchi. He had been walking for hours and he was soaked to the bone, his teeth chattering on their own will. Once again he thanked his luck that his pack from the King had turned out to be water resistant so his food stayed dry. The foliage around him began to get more and more dense, when suddenly it all disappeared. Looking up he noticed large rusty iron gates coming into his view. It was actually pretty close to him, but he couldn't tell earlier because of the darkness around him due to the heavy clouds and rain.

"Woah, I can't believe I was this close the whole time! It's way too dark out here." he shivered slightly as a cold wind passed his wet body. He approached the gates cautiously. "So cold..."

Jou yelped when an arm wrapped around his waist and another hand came over his mouth.

"Shut up." a voice warned harshly from the person behind him. Jou had no choice but to comply and allow himself to be drug by the other, he was in no position to be struggling, it would get him killed faster.

He closed his eyes and waited for the worst to happen. Imagine his surprise when he is pulled into somewhere warm and cozy. His eyes popped open when he was pulled down into a chair and the mysterious hands left his body. He noted quickly that he was in what seemed to be a one room house of some sort.

"Wha-- where?" he asked hesitantly.

A teen that looked to be about his age with platinum blond hair, lavender eyes and a tan that seemed impossible to obtain this time of year flooded his vision.

"What are you doing here?" the platinum blond demanded, arms crossed over his chest angrily.

"I don't even know where 'here' is!" Jou growled. He had meant 'here' as in the cabin like home, but it seemed that the tanned teen mistook as in the area.

"Oh. Are you lost then? I mean with this storm and all it's entirely possible." it seemed that he was talking more to himself than to Jounouchi.

"Yeah... Where am I?" he asked carefully. "And who are you?"

"My... You're nosy." the platinum blond sighed and sat in a chair across from Jou. "Well you seem pretty harmless... aside from that sword strapped to your side." the platinum blond waited for Jou, who sighed in defeat and unwillingly unstrapped his prized possession and placed it against the wall before returning to his seat a couple of feet away. "That's better." he stood and grabbed the sword and shoved it under a bed.

"Who are you?" the blond repeated.

The teens lavender eyes glared up at him before softening. "I am called Malik. Right now you are in my home." Jou took a better look at his surroundings to notice that there were two beds in one corner of the house, a table in another, a rug in the third and a small entry way into what Jou supposed was the kitchen. "So who are you?"

"Jou." the blond replied cautiously.

"Jou... Nice name. It's cute. Like you." the tanned teen strode up to Jou and gently pulled on a lock of wet, shaggy blond hair. "You need to dry off. I don't want you getting sick near me."

"Uh... thanks?" Jou stammered as the other teen crossed the room to grab a blanket and shuffle through a chest of clothing.

"His clothes should fit him just fine..." the platinum blond mumbled as he grabbed some clothes and tossed them at Jou. "Here. Change into these."

Jounouchi eyed the other suspiciously. "What do want from me?" he asked, not taking the bait of hospitality.

Malik barked out a laugh. "Well, well, well. It seems that someone's not as dumb as they look." he waved away the fierce glare sent at him by the honey eyed teen. "Don't worry. I'm just looking for company." Jou did _not_ like the way the platinum blond had said 'company', seemingly hinting at something more. "Lately I haven't seen another face but his." Malik jutted a thumb over his shoulder indicating the two beds.

Jou faltered for a moment and ran through the options in his head. He could try and make a break for it right now and seek shelter in the forest nearby, but then he'd leave his sword behind and that was something that he _wouldn't _do. His other option was to play along for now, grab his stuff at the most opportune moment and run for it...

He chose to play.

"Okay..." he said with a defeated sigh that caused the other to jump and clap his hands in delight. "Um... Where should I... uh, change?"

"Oh! Yes, wait just a sec." Malik turned around, back to Jounouchi. "Okay go ahead."

"Erm... Could you take three steps to your right please?"

"Why? Then I can't see--"

"In the mirror, yeah I know." he finished with a crooked grin as Malik crossed his arms and moved out of view from the mirror. 'What a strange guy.' Jou thought as he dressed hurriedly, not trusting for a second that Malik would stay facing away from him.

"Done yet?"

"Yep." Jou said as he tugged the slightly oversized shirt down completely.

"Are you hungry? Let's talk while I make us something!" the platinum blond said rapidly as he bounced into the entry way that did in fact lead to a kitchen. Feeling slightly at a loss, Jou followed.

"Soooo Jou, tell me about yourself! Where do you come from? How is the world?" Malik asked as he began grabbing ingredients from a cabinet and setting them on a counter.

'And he thought _I _was nosy.'

"Well... I travel around a lot." Jou said deciding to humor the other. "And the world? I 'spose it's doing just fine."

The tanned teen nodded as he began to prepare what Jou assumed would be sandwiches. "So how did you end up here?"

"Well, this is actually pretty embarrassing, but I was walking down a trail near here I think, and I kinda spaced out for awhile and the next thing I knew the trail was gone!" he forced a blush to rise to his cheeks, not a particular skill he used often, and he continued his little story. "And so I just headed straight, figuring I'd find a town sooner or later." the blond shrugged as he took a bite of the sandwich offered to him, tasting it carefully. He couldn't risk being poisoned at this point.

"I don't get it. Why didn't you just turn around and find the path again?" Malik asked taking a bite of his own sandwich.

Jou snorted. "And get more lost than I already was? No thanks."

The tanned teen laughed loudly but stopped suddenly when the door to the cabin like home slammed open. "He's home early..." Malik said with a sigh as he continued eating.

"Who?"

"Marik. Don't die on me now." the platinum blond said with a smirk.

"Huh?" the others threat wasn't lost on the blond.

"Malik!" A large man who looked almost exactly identical to Malik, but with darker, more vicious eyes, stepped through into the conjoined kitchen. Jou didn't even have time to breathe before the taller version of Malik attacked him.

He sidestepped the others first fist smoothly and ducked out of the way of the other, using his balance, or lack thereof, to roll to the side and drop into a fighting stance. Just because he didn't have a sword didn't mean he couldn't kick the crap out of this guy.

"I can't believe you think this is funny!" Jou growled at Malik, who was still sitting on the counter smirking as if this was an everyday occurrence, and dodged another round of blows. "Fucking do something before _I _do!"

"Alright, alright. Just keep your pants on pretty boy." Malik hopped off the counter and stood in front of his larger look alike and placed a hand on the others chest. He stopped immediately. "Well on second thought..."

Jounouchi glared hard before sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "They are staying on and that's final. Now would you care to explain... this?" he asked waving a hand at Marik, still watching him carefully.

Malik looked up to Marik and grinned impishly. "Well since you're still alive, I guess I could tell you. This is Marik."

"We've established that." Jou said with a groan.

"He's my lover." Jou coughed as he nearly choked on this new information. "Don't look too jealous now." Malik said with an annoyed pout, which soon turned into a predatory grin. "But if you want I can try and talk Marik into letting all three of us having some fun tonight."

"No!" Marik and Jou shouted in unison.

Malik seemed a little crestfallen so Jou tried to console him from his place across the room. "D-don't look so down! It's not because lack of interest or anything." A sharp, death promising glare made him regret his words. "I-I mean, I'm not interested at all! But uhh... Marik is! You should focus on him!... or something..." he had just not only embarrassed himself as well as confused himself, but he may have just ordered his own head on a silver platter.

Malik turned back to Marik and kissed the man soundly. He grabbed Marik by the wrists and began to lead him to the other room with the beds. "He's right Marik. Come on, lets have us some fun." he purred ignoring Jounouchi's presence completely.

Marik allowed his smaller lover to pull him into the next room, but before he could be dragged completely out of the kitchen he stopped and glared at Jou harshly. "Don't you dare even fucking watch or I'll rip out your eyes with my bare hands and feed them to the forest gnomes."

"You don't have ta tell _me _that!" he hissed angrily before Marik left to join his smaller lover.

Jou sunk against the wall and sighed. "Dear Ihy! How can they just do that when they have a complete stranger in the house!" he took a deep breath as the moaning in the next room became louder. Looking around for something to occupy his numb mind he noticed a rolled up parchment on the counter. He strode over to it quickly, grabbed it and returned to his spot on the floor. "What's this?" His eyes widened as he read what was written on the paper. "This can't be...? A decree of the Gods?" He had only seen one of these once before in his life, and that was when... "No... Just... What is Seth up to? An official proclamation? To guard this Castle of all places? Does he like to make my life difficult?"

Tossing the parchment back over towards the counter he brainstormed an escape plan. These two _are _the Gate Keeper. Well Gate Keepers actually, and it was even decreed so by Seth himself, they were followers Seth! That would explain Marik's violence... Well not really. These two were just... crazy. The moaning from the next room increased.

"That's it!" he whispered to himself with a sadistic smile. "I'll just grab all my stuff from under the bed when they fall asleep. And from the sounds of things now that just might take a little while longer."

Jou had been wrong in his assumption that it would only be a while longer. After the first round Jou thought for sure they were going to finally sleep when they started up again. He started to nod off when he suddenly noticed how quiet everything had gone. He chanced a peek into the room and was beside himself with glee when he found the other two sleeping in the bed that _didn't _have his equipment shoved underneath.

As stealthily as he could muster he crawled into the other room and moved to the bed. He pulled out his armor, sword and pack quickly. Placing everything back on his body he stood up and made for the outside. He was grateful that the rain had stopped and he closed the door silently behind himself. Quickly he ran to the iron gates and pushed them open slightly glad they made no noise or resistance. He slipped past them and shut them once more before running into the castle itself.

Not until he was fully inside the castle did he dare breath normally. "Dammit Seth. Why do you have all the psychos following you? I think you just scarred me for life with those two." he sighed when he heard the familiar voice chuckle in the back of his mind.

"Just... no more hitches in this mission... please?" he pleaded quietly keeping his place against a cold stone wall.

_'Ah, I'm sorry. I can't quite make such a promise serf. _(2)the familiar voice of Seth rang clearly in his mind. He'd had communication with all four of the Gods since he could remember. This was a normal occurrence for him.

"Yeah, figures. Sometimes you guys are as useless as a sack of potatoes when it comes to stuff like this."

_'You should watch what you say to a deity, serf.' _Seth scolded half heartedly.

"I should, but I don't and you know it. Now if you don't mind I need to get on with this rescuing business." Jou said as he began to make his way into the dimly lit palace.

_'Whatever you say serf.'_ Jounouchi knew that the God of Chaos wasn't telling him something. They all always withheld important information from him. He just sighed in frustration and forcibly closed their mental link. He'd just figure it out the hard way.

**End Chapter One**

Yes I realize that ents are from LOTR. I have no imagination.

A serf is a servant... Just more... formal.

_A/N: Thanks to my beta, the girl that sits next to me in study hall... Yeah... -- Kuragari_


	3. Chapter 2: Dear Princess

_A/N: Action and information... Strange combination... Enjoy! _

(!) _Disclaimer- Kuragari doesn't own Y-G-O or the characters by any means. Kuragari does not make money from writing this fiction, nor will he ever. Kuragari also takes no credit for the Magical Knight Rayearth references. Suing this author is not permitted in any state, country, or local residential area. Too bad._

**Fable**

Chapter Two: Hidden Princess

Jou blinked a few times to try and adjust to the darkness of the Castle. "The King said that this place was supposed to be some kinda maze. Now what to do so I don't get myself lost..." he sighed quietly to himself and paced for a few moments. Slowly he drug his left hand along the wall before pausing. "Now there's an idea." He began to walk down the corridors, his left hand never leaving the wall. If the hall turned into a left turn he would take it, dead end or not, until he reached a staircase. He had learned when he was just a kid that if you kept your left hand on a wall in a maze you could never get lost. You could never make the same mistake twice, and to find your way back is all you had to do was turn around and follow the same wall with your right hand.

He wandered the halls for a long while before reaching the first staircase. He traveled it quickly and found that he was in another maze. "Just gotta get to the top." he told himself as he began to do the same as the last floor.

Three sets of stairs later and yet another maze to travel Jounouchi found himself bored out of his mind. He followed the wall absently and allowed his weary mind to wander off on its own.

_**-An unexpected but vivid recurrence of the past-**_(1)

"_Mom where are you going?" a young boy with golden hair and mocha brown eyes asked a tall woman with long rustic hair._

"_Hush now, child. What must be done shall be just." The boys mother cooed gently as she grabbed his small hand into hers._

"_Mom, I don't understand. What is happening?" the young boy prodded. They were leaving the one place that they had called home and they boy was scared._

"_Don't worry child. I will let nothing bad happen. But promise me one thing." the woman gracefully fell to her knees and hugged the golden haired boy. "Whatever happens here, today, accept it with open arms. And remember that your mother loves you."_

_The boy nodded dumbly, not comprehending the depth of his mothers words. "Yes mom. I promise."_

_The woman smiled gently and rose back to her height. Taking the boy's hand once more she proceeded to pull him down a well worn path to the temple of the Gods._

"_Mom? Mom! Why? I don't want this mom! No!" the young child began to struggle as soon as he saw the grand edifice come into his sight. "Mom please no! I want to stay with you! Please!" he was crying as his mother picked him up and rocked him against her bosom._

"_Don't worry. It will be alright I promise you. My sweet, sweet child. I will never truly leave you." she hushed him as any mother would their child as she carried his crying form into the temple. Quietly she walked into the center of a large sunlit room. Placing the boy back onto the ground she threw her arms up and called, "O, great Gods Four! I ask thee for thy presence! Judge this soul, but only for that of her sin! I ask thee! Come forth and be thine judge!"_

_Soon the already bright room became brighter. "Mom!" the golden haired boy called out as his mother was engulfed in a strange light, forcing the boy to wince when he looked directly at it, but he looked anyway._

_Four figures in the shape of people surrounded the boys mother. One was very tall, while two of them seemed to be the exact same figure and the last seemed to be a child, just like the golden haired boy. The woman quickly dropped to her knees and touched her forehead to the ground._

"_The sin is not yours." a deep voice came from what seemed to be the air itself. "The sin lies within the boy."_

"_N-no!" the woman pleaded with the four figures. "The sin is mine! My child is mine sin! The sin is mine!"_

_The child-like figure stepped forward and took the womans hands into what would be it's own. "Do not blame thyself, for there is naught." it's melodic voice rang from, once again, the air._

"_Please! I ask thee! Do not harm him! For that child is my very soul!" The woman had tears streaking down her pale cheeks._

_The figures made no response to her plea as they all moved towards the dark eyed boy. They surrounded him quickly and the room began to glow brighter. _

"_Katsuya!"_

_**-End to the unexpected but vivid recurrence of the past-**_

Jou snapped out of is reverie when his toe came into painful contact with the bottom of a stair. He bit his tongue to keep himself from crying out. Damn memories, they always seemed to just randomly come to him at the most inopportune moments in his life.

With a large sigh he tried to erase the images from his mind. That day had been the beginning of his current life. No one would understand the pain he went through, the pain those around him had suffered. Because of _that man._

He stopped walking and leaned against the wall under his hand. Now was _not_ the time to get emotional.

"_Serf, your memories are saddening." _a childish voice echoed in his mind.

"If you don't like it then get out of my fucking head." he snapped angrily, as he started to continue on his way.

"_Serf... Please do not be that way. There was no other option. Don't be angry." _the child's voice rose slightly in a panic.

"Ihy... I'm not angry with you. I'm just disappointed in myself." he sighed in relief when he came to another flight of stairs.

"_Why? Serf, don't tell me you think that..."_

"I should have done something Ihy! I could've stopped all of this! I just know it!" he slammed his left fist into the wall.

"_There was nothing you could have done serf. Nothing. You were but a child."_

"There had to have been _something_ Ihy! I know it!"

"_Like what?"_ the child asked as if the answer was something that anyone would know.

"..." Jou seethed in an angry silence. He'd lost this round. "I'll let you know when I figure it out." he said in a defeated voice.

"_Serf... It's okay. Just be careful. I fear for the future. Something is wrong." _Suddenly the mental link was closed off. Jou sighed and continued onward. He'd have to be extremely careful now. Ihy was never wrong in his premonitions.

Jou followed the wall in an angry silence. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but soon the sound of muffled sobs were brought to his ears. He followed the sound until he came upon a set of great oriental doors. He pushed them open slightly and peered inside. The room was nearly empty with the exception of a large four poster bed, a large painting above the headboard of the bed, a wooden chair and a huge stain glass window. What got his attention right away was what, or rather _who_ was sitting in the wooden chair, facing the stain glass window.

The person had the longest hair Jou had ever seen in his life. The long yellow locks of hair pooled around the chair on the floor, giving off an impression of a yellow waterfall. That was another thing that caught Jou's attention. The color of their hair. It was blond like his own but it was much brighter. It reminded him of the yellow wildflowers he used to pick for his mother as a child.

The person was facing the large stain glass window, so Jounouchi couldn't see their face. He noticed how slender shoulders would reveal themselves each time the person took a shuddering breath. From his stand point he guessed that this person was a woman. He stood there a while longer, listing to the womans soft cries until he could no longer listen to her suffer any longer. He opened the door completely and stepped inside.

That was all it took to catch the womans attention. Her breath hitched and she turned around in her chair, tears still spilling down her pale face. She wasn't ashamed to show her sorrow. She spoke not a word but she stared at Jounouchi with watery eyes; pleading. He couldn't help but stare at her eyes. Where the blue-eyed man's eyes were the color of the deepest point in an ocean, dark and hidden, hers were the color of the open sky, bright and clear. He had no idea that the same color could be so different.

"Excuse me." Jou said suddenly. He really had no idea what to say to someone in this condition.

"Why hast thou come tither?" she asked in a fairly high voice, not high enough to be annoying, just girly. "Dost thou tempt me? Dost thou believe me a fool?"

Jou was slightly taken aback by the womans retaliation. Maybe he said the wrong thing. That was when he spotted the golden circlet surrounding the womans head, a single diamond dangling in the center of her pale forehead. She must think that he was there to torture her or something.

"Now wait a second here."

"Take you me for a fool?" she asked quietly, standing up and facing Jou completely, tears never ceasing.

"No Milady. I am here to rescue you from this place and return you to your family."

"Mine family... not mine Kingdom?" she smiled and brought her hands up to her chest. "Good sir, from where do you hail?"

"I do not come from anywhere Milady."

She shook her head, making her hair twirl around her slender body. "That is alright, Good sir. I am forever in thy debt."

This time Jou shook his own golden locks. "Thank me when I get you home." Slowly he held out his hand palm up. He never really liked doing this, but most of the time the women he saved wouldn't come with him unless he was holding their hand. It was really stupid.

The Princess took long, graceful strides to reach Jou and place a pale hand into his. "I am Emeurade." she said with a small curtsy.

"I'm Jou." he said with a small bow of his own. He grasped her hand and began to lead her out of the room and castle, using his right as the guide back.

oOo

Seto clenched his fists angrily. He had been gone for only an hour, perhaps two and the next thing he knows The stupid blond has to make it inside the castle! And he's deep inside it. There was no way to tell if the blond knew where he was going, but he sure looked pretty confident in himself. And that just pissed the brunet off more.

He tried to calm himself down by taking long, deep breaths and counting to ten. After a while it started to work so Seto worked through his options. He could one, kill the blond and get this whole thing over with. Two, watch the blond get lost and die of starvation or three, watch the blond find the Princess and escape.

'Well, two does seem pretty entertaining...' he thought to himself. So he sat back down in front of the pond and made himself more comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

The brunet only had to wait three hours until the blond had found the room where the Princess was kept. He forced himself to stay calm as Jou walked into the room. He had never seen the Princess himself before and was quite taken with her beauty.

"She's too beautiful." he murmured to himself. "I could never stand to be around her." He watched with sadistic amusement as the long haired blonde cried even as she spoke. When the two joined hands and left the room, Seto was stuck watching them with disgust. Just seeing that stupid dog with the Princess made him want to kill someone. Preferably Jou.

"Setoooooo!"

Seto whipped around in his spot to glare at whoever had the guts to interrupt him at this hour.

"Big brother! You're-- Hey that lady is really pretty!" Mokuba said as soon as he ran up to the pond Seto was sitting in front of.

"Mokuba what are you still doing awake? I thought I just told you to go to bed." the brunet snapped.

"Relax Seto. I was sleeping until a guard came and told me to get you. Is that the Princess?" Mokuba sat down with an ungraceful 'thud' next to his brother.

"Yes it is, and what did the guard want me for?" he asked, agitation evident in his voice.

"She is so pretty big brother! The King has summoned you. It probably has to do with Ra and the Princess." he waved his hand in a bored fashion and kept his eyes glued on the beautiful blonde in the pond.

"I see... Mokuba you need to be in bed." Seto stood up slowly and crossed his arms.

"But Seto! Can't I just take over your watch while you talk to the King? Please?" Mokuba begged sweetly.

"No you cannot." Seto looked away as Mokuba's eyes became round and watery. "Don't you even try. You need to sleep and that's final."

"Yes big brother." Mokuba said with a sigh as he too got up and began to head to his quarters. "But I get to watch tomorrow!" and with that he ran off, not waiting for Seto's reply.

The eldest sighed at his brothers antics. He followed his brother's shadow until he reached the royal chambers. The King never wanted to talk to him in the court rooms. He knocked and entered without waiting for a reply.

"I said wait." a deep voice on the other side of the room informed the brunet.

"Hn." he replied as he crossed his arms and leaned against the closed door.

"Seto, we must talk." slowly the King stood in front of Seto, still dressed in his Kingly attire of velvet pants and cloak along with his silk shirt. His spiky tri-colored hair slightly mused from constant running of nervous fingers, dark crimson eyes pink from lack of sleep.

"What about?"

"You know exactly what." the King snapped, making Seto raise an amused brow. The King sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine, I'll spell it out for you. You're one of the Four High Priests. You communicate with Ra. You listen to his whims and preform them. But Ra hasn't spoken in a long time. Why is this?"

Seto sighed, he was getting really tired of explaining this over and over again. "King Atemu--"

"I've told you many times Seto, call me Atemu. We're family, there is no need for titles."

"Atemu..." Seto said, doing his best not to grind his teeth. "I have told you on many occasions that I was left with orders to fulfill. He will not speak to me until I find out his motives behind his whim."

"Then figure it out! Ra has never been absent for so long! It is causing the people to worry. I'm starting to come to a loss Seto." Atemu said with an angry groan.

"If it was that easy to begin with, I'd have this whole mess figured out and solved days ago." Seto hissed.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Ra has Closed to you. Some are actually beginning to believe that. They are demanding that we set a date for an official Selection." Atemu moved away from Seto and sat on his bed, hunching his shoulders. "Soon I'll have nothing to do but to do as they say."

Seto rubbed his temples. "I'll have this solved within the week." he stated angrily and moved to leave.

"Seto... Just be careful. I have a strange feeling about all of this."

"Hn." Quickly he moved out of the room and back in front of his private pond. He would solve this riddle and he wouldn't rest until he was done. He sat cross legged and placed his chin on a fist as he stared into the images. There had to be a clue... somewhere...

oOo

"Good Sir, we have happened upon the exit!" Princess Emeurade chimed from behind him. What he wouldn't give to have her talk like a normal human being.

"Yes, but..." he placed a finger over his mouth, "we must stay quiet. It might be dangerous outside." Emeurade raised a elegant brow but nodded. "Come." He pulled slightly on her hand to signal her to move forward. Slowly they proceeded out the door and Jounouchi cringed each time that he even _thought_ he heard the clicking of the Princess' heels.

To Jou's dismay the Princess stopped outside of the door to look around at the surroundings. He understood that she probably hadn't been outdoors for a long time, but now was definitely not the time. He took the moment to check for danger, and decided they only had a few minutes before sunrise. The sky was already hinted with dark pink and orange rays.

They had to go, and _now_, if they wanted to make it unseen. He glanced back at the Princess and decided that she was completely useless in a situation like this. He decided not to risk anything and scooped Emeurade up bridal style. She didn't struggle or object to his actions and he made his way down the path quickly, using the trees as cover.

He didn't even realize how lucky he was.

"Marik! We need to stop him!" Malik hissed from behind a bush.

Marik shook his head and allowed his eyes to follow the blond striding past quickly. "He gets away this time."

"Why?" Malik was beyond surprised. Usually Marik never missed a chance to beat someone into the ground.

"He earned it." Marik shrugged. "But next time I wont go so easy on him." With a devilish smirk he lead Malik back to their cabin. They would be punished for their act, but Jou had their respect.

Jou didn't stop or put the Princess down until the sun had risen to it's full height. When they came to an open clearing Jou set Emeurade down and stretched. She was actually really light so he was able to carry her pretty far without tiring himself out too much.

"Good Sir..."

"Jou."

"What?"

"Call me Jou. I hate all that formal crap." he said with a disapproving wave of his hand.

"Yes, I understand. Then thou shouldest call me Emeurade." she said quietly, her hands clasped together on her chest.

Jou shook his head. "No, you're basically a wanted woman, Emeurade. We need to get you in disguise and give you an alias." Emeurade cocked her head in confusion. "Well first we need to do something about your little crown there, that is a dead give away to who you are. You might want to take it off."

"Oh no! I couldest never do such a thing! Mine crown is all that is left of mine family. I hold it dear to me."

Jou's head was swimming from the Princess' constant elegant speech. "Okay okay, keep it on, but we gotta cover it with something..." He sighed and crouched down. "Now don't get mad at me okay? I just need to tear off some of your dress here at the bottom." Emeurade pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay, here goes." He grabbed part of the dress' underskirt and ripped off a long strip.

"What now Good – Jou?" Emeurade asked as Jou began to wrap the cloth around her golden circlet a few times.

"And that's another thing. You need to stop talking as if you're royalty. We're gunna take the long way back to the castle so we wont have'ta go through all of Drekkan. So we'll be going through a couple of towns on the way." he tied a knot in the back of her head. "Now if anyone asks what happened to your head, just say you hit it and you don't remember anything."

"Why wouldst I lie?"

"Why would I lie." Jou corrected.

"Oh yes. Why would I lie?"

"Well, it's that or you get caught and thrown back into that castle. It's your choice." Jou shrugged.

"I see. What do I remember then?" she asked, hands still clasped on her chest. A very feminine position in Jou's opinion.

"Hmm... Maybe... Do you have any siblings?"

"Why yes!" Emeurade said with a bright smile. "My sister dear! Adanne! Oh how she looks just like mother!" Emeurade's blue eyes became cloudy and distant.

Jou smiled. He knew exactly how she felt when it came to siblings. "So lets say that your Adanne is all you can remember, and your looking for her."

"My! Thou art clever!" Emeurade said, her smile never fading.

"You are clever."

"Oh dear. I got carried away it seems." she said as she covered her mouth as doing so would stop her from using court speech.

"S'okay Emmie. If you'd like, we could rest here for a while. Sleep and such."

"Emmie? Is that my new alias?" Emeurade asked with a quirked brow.

"Uh... It kinda slipped..." Jou rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Do you like it?"

"Very much." she replied with a sweet smile. "But we should keep going. We rest at dark. I want to go home."

Jou sighed but smiled back as they began to head forwards again. He would really like to sleep, he hadn't at all last night. But strangely the Princess was right, they needed to travel while they could still see.

They walked for hours in relative comfortable silence. As the sun began to set they made camp and Emeurade decided it was time to break the long silence.

"Jou."

"Hm?" he grunted as he struck up a fire with his newly acquired flint.

"I don't mean to be rude but... You don't act very knightly... Why is that?"

Jounouchi sat back and stared into the fire. "I guess you could say that I'm not exactly a real knight." he said with a shrug. Emeurade knit her brows in confusion. "What I mean is, I'm not like your normal knight. I wasn't raised in a kingdom or trained in the ways of the knight, so I guess I'm just different is all." Jou gave a small, fake smile and laid down.

"Strange."

"You think so?" he asked curiously.

"In a way. It takes a strong will to become a knight. And yours must be stronger if you became one by yourself." she said in a soft matter of fact tone as she stared into the fire as well.

"And I'm good at what I do!" Jou laughed as he pumped his fist towards the sky. "I'll do everything in my power to protect you Emmie, so you don't have to worry anymore."

"You can tell?" she asked with a small smile as she folded her hands.

"Yep. It's like this with most people that I rescue, and yes I've done this before, so you should eat and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Emeurade nodded and soon enough they were both curled up on opposite sides of the dwindling campfire sleeping.

"_Serf." _A deep mental voice prodded in his head. Jou groaned and sat up. He looked over to Emeurade and made sure she was sleeping before he stood up and moved into some trees where he could still see her.

"What?" he hissed at the voice he knew was Seth.

"_Serf... Jou. Why?"_

"Wha-- huh?" Jou stuttered. The Four Gods never called him by name.

"_Don't die."_ Seth said slowly and closed off the mental link.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked himself as he walked back to camp. He glared at the dying embers of the fire trying to understand what Seth had been trying to tell him. As soon as he felt himself getting drowsy again he heard a low guttural growl come from the wooded area around them. His eyes widened drastically as he tried to scan the area for the maker of the sound. A flash of red and a pair of dark wings told Jou everything he needed to know, even if he didn't want to. A monster. Definitely not friendly. He chanced a longer look and saw the lightly pebbled color skin stretched above thick, taut muscles, almost taking on the profile of a statue. "Shit! Gargoyle!" he whispered to himself.

There were only two ways he knew of to kill a gargoyle. One was to kill it with holy magic, but only priests can control holy magic, and he was no priest. Second was to cut it's head off, but he couldn't risk the Princess' life trying to fight it.

Slowly he stood and walked over to Emeurade. He picked her up in his arms and making sure she stayed quiet, he took off in a dead run.

"Jou what's happening?" Emeurade asked in a frightened tone.

"Gar...goyle..." he panted. Emeurade gasped and squirmed in his arms a bit as she managed to pull off her high heeled shoes. "What...are—oof!" The massive night creature had caught up to them and grabbed one of Jou's ankles in its claws, causing the blond to trip and drop the Princess on the ground.

"Release him you foul beast!" Emeurade yelled and chucked one of her heels into the crimson eye of the gargoyle. The heel of the shoe buried itself into the soft flesh of the monster's eye causing it to cry out in pain and use its front claws to try and dig the shoe from its eye, leaving large scratches down its elaborately carved face.

As soon as Jounouchi felt the claw loosen around his ankle he stood up and grabbed the Princess' arm. "Run!" They took off in the opposite direction of the howling beast.

"What... now... Jou?" Emeurade panted after they had run for a few minutes straight.

"Keep... running... and.. pray... to the... Four... the... sun comes... up... soon!" he panted back. All gargoyles turned back to their original stone form when they were hit by sunlight. Emeurade nodded and continued to run as fast as she could. But after a few minutes their adrenaline began to run low and they started to lose their breath.

"Jou... I can't ... not... too far..." she breathed heavily. Her pace began to slow drastically.

A loud cry could be heard from above their heads. The gargoyle had found them from the air. "Emmie! Watch out!" he yelled, but it was too late. Emeurade's foot landed in a small hole and she tripped. There was a loud crunching sound from her foot.

"Ahhhgg." the Princess cried as she pulled her, most likely broken, foot from the hole to her chest. "Oww... I'm so sorry Jou." she said as tears of pain pricked the sides of her eyes.

The gargoyle above screeched in what could easily be mistaken for delight and began to swoop down from the sky towards the Princess. Just as the huge beast was less than three feet away, Jou stepped in front of Emeurade and quickly sliced his great sword at the oncoming beast. The sword easily cut through the beast's neck.

The gargoyle suddenly turned back into stone, its large, ornate head and neck falling onto Jounouchi.

"Oof." He pushed the large offending piece of stone. "Are you alright Emmie?" he asked as he moved to the monsters head and pulled out her heel from its stony eye. "That was a nice shot by the way."

Emeurade grinned weakly. "Thank you." She slowly eased her foot down in front of her. Jou ran his hand along the monsters elaborate face. A soft green light emitted from the monsters head and brushed past Jou only to soon fade. "Do you think my foot will be alright?" Emeurade asked, not even seeing the light.

Jounouchi crouched down and examined her foot. It was swollen and was already bruising. "It looks like ya broke it." he sighed and stood up to help her to her feet. "I'll carry ya, so you don't have to limp around." he said with a smile.

"Thank you very much Jou." Emeurade replied with a kind smile. She took the bag from his back and placed it upon her own shoulders before climbing onto Jou when he crouched down.

"Well, so much for sleeping tonight."

oOo

Seto stared wide eyed as the events unfolded in front of him. The two blond's where running from a gargoyle. A gargoyle that _shouldn't even be there_.

"Who could possibly have the power to summon a gargoyle out of its lair?" Seto stood up and paced before he gave up and sat back down. Gargoyles never left their territory unless summoned, and because they are massive creatures they have strong wills, making summoning difficult, even for the most experienced summoner.

He rubbed his eyes hard, almost painfully. So someone was after the blond. What in Ra's name was he supposed to do about it? Go and save him like he was sort of damsel in distress? He scoffed at the mere idea of that. He didn't want to go and waste time trying to help the blond when he could very well take care of himself. Not only that but the blond wouldn't appreciate it much either. Not that he cared what Jounouchi thought.

"All there is to do is watch." he told himself with a shake of his head. He snorted in amusement as the Princess fell, but felt his heart leap into his throat when the blond killed the beast in one well placed slice of his great sword. It would have seemed like such a heroic moment if the beast's head hadn't fallen on the blond. And yet again the strange green light brushed Jou and disappeared. Not knowing what it was, was starting to become bothersome.

"You'll have to do much more than that to impress _me_." he told the images as he cleared them with a wave of his hand. He was off to get some well deserved sleep.

oOo

It wasn't until the sun started to paint the sky did Jounouchi begin to feel the first effects of fatigue pull at him.

"This looks like a good spot to rest." he informed Emeurade as he crouched down to help her off his back.

"You must be so tired. You should rest, I'll get you something to eat." Emeurade said with earnest.

Jou laughed. "Alright then. But I'm going to grab some firewood." Emeurade nodded and watched Jou as he walked off into the woods.

She tugged the pack of supplies off her back and set it softly in her lap. She stared at the leather strap holding the pack closed rather than digging through it for the food that she had promised Jou. The blonde allowed her thoughts to wander.

Jou really wasn't like any knight she was used to seeing. He wasn't clad in heavy armor, didn't have any sort of pompous behavior, and he seemed to carry many secrets with him. He was this mysterious enigma that was right in front of her, but she couldn't get near him. That was what made him so attractive. Not to mention that he was gorgeous, with blond hair that was the color of wheat and those golden eyes that seemed to constantly be smiling, yet hiding an even darker secret within.

This was just like one of the faerie tales she had read as a child. The beautiful golden haired princess would be captured by an evil source. She would be locked in the tallest room of the tallest tower in a castle. She would wait for the day that she would be rescued by a knight in shining armor, and when she was, they would return home, fall in love and live happily ever after.

Right now she was living her own faerie tale. Just like the ones she had read, but there were only two differences. She held a lock of her hair in between two of her fingers. Her hair wasn't golden like the Princess' in the books. Adanne had always told her that her hair was that of sunshine or wild daisy's. Not gold. And second, - she glanced in the direction that Jou had left- he wasn't like the knights in the books.

But they could still fall in love and live happily ever after.

She sighed dreamily and looked up towards the now blue skies.

"You okay Emmie?" Jou asked her from nowhere. She jumped lightly and looked over at Jou, who had returned with wood and was now sitting next to her preparing to start a fire.

"Oh, yes. I was just thinking. It helps to distract me."

"From yer foot?" he asked with a worried glance.

She paused for a moment. She was so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed the low throbbing pain that had been present in her foot. "Yes. But I'm fine. Do not worry yourself." she said with a soft reassuring smile.

"Okay, that's good. Don't move it too much or it might get messed up permanently. Hopefully we can find a healer in town..." he watched as the flint sparked and caught some of the smaller timbers in a small ember.

Emeurade pulled out some bread and cheese from the pack and handed them to Jounouchi.

"Thanks." he ate heartily and stretched out on the ground by the small fire. "You eat too Emmie." he mumbled as his eyes drifted shut.

Emeurade nibbled on some bread as she stared at Jou's sleeping form. He seemed like the very image of life and innocence when he slept. She moved a little closer to him and bent her head to get a better look at him. A soft snore emitted from his mouth. She smiled and leaned a little closer, and closer still. He was so close, but still far away. Smiling warmly she brought her face to Jou's.

oOo

Seto stood and glared into the pond of his private gardens in an unidentifiable rage. Was that horrid example of a woman doing what he _thought_ she was doing. She was going to betray his will, _Ra's_ will. She would trample on his honor, bash his pride, destroy everything he had worked so hard to obtain thus far.

The brunet clenched his fists around some stray pebbles surrounding the pond and watched closely. If she did betray him, he would kill her _and _that stupid dog, even if he _was _sleeping and didn't have the slightest idea of what was about to happen.

As the blonde leaned in closer and closer to Jounouchi's face, Seto found himself angrier and angrier. Then she brought her lips upon the blond's and Seto snarled with an uncontrolled rage. He flung the pebbles into the pond, distorting the horrid image, and quickly said a teleportation incantation.

oOo

Jou awoke with the feeling of something warm and moist on his lips. His eyes shot open and he found himself staring into two sky blue orbs. Roughly he pushed the Princess away from him and wiped his mouth.

"What the hell are you doin'?" he asked as he continued to wipe his mouth as rudely as possible.

Emeurade watched him briefly before answering, "I was falling in love with my knight." said she.

Jounouchi's eyes widened in immediate understanding. "Oh no, no, no, no! Listen it can't be--" he stopped suddenly when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Get out of here. _Now._" he whispered, almost in a desperate tone.

"What? Why!" Emeurade moved to stand despite her words and her broken foot, but a bright light engulfed the area causing both the blond's to cover their eyes in pain. Emeurade was the first to recover from the temporary blinding and blinked up at the third person that had just joined them. "Kaiba Seto!" she gasped and involuntarily moved backwards.

Jounouchi rubbed his eyes and stood up to face the intruder. As he was about to pull his sword, he looked to see who it was and stopped.

"It's you." he stated dumbly.

Seto didn't even glance at Jounouchi. Instead he turned his piercing glare upon Emeurade. "Princess, you have betrayed the will of Ra. Prepare to face his wrath." he said the last part with an evil smirk. He was going to enjoy what he was about to do. The brunet began to mutter another incantation under his breath.

Jou looked around wildly. 'Betray the will of Ra? It can't possibly be...!' His thoughts came to a sudden halt when he realized that the brunet was fixed on casting a spell. "Shit!"

Nimbly he jumped in front of the Princess and covered her slender body with his own just as the brunet cast the spell. He could feel the sheer power of the spell envelop his body and pass on to Emeurade's.

A pain filled cry reached his ears and he looked down to Emeurade. "Emmie? What's wrong?" Emeurade shook her head as tears began to cascade down her pale cheeks. "Emmie! Talk to me!" She lifted up a hand and placed it upon one of his own cheeks. That's when he saw it. The tips of her fingers were slowly turning into dust and blowing away in the light wind. He looked down her body and was frightened to see that her legs from the knees down were gone and replaced with small piles of dirt. "Oh Yah, no! Emmie I'm so sorry! Just, what ever happens, follow the light and you'll be safe. I promise you." he could feel the warm tears begin to travel down his own face.

"Jou..." she gasped in pain.

Jou shook his head. "Have no regrets. Follow the light and you'll be fine." He swallowed hard when he felt her slowly fade away in his own hands, the dust traveling through the gaps between his fingers.

Emeurade smiled and closed her eyes. Her breathing became slower and ragged. "Thank you..." she whispered with her final breath. Jounouchi watched her soul rise from her disintegrating body and make its way to the hall of spirits.

"You bastard." Jou said darkly as he stood and faced Seto. "You're going to pay for doing that to her!"

Seto, still in shock from the fact that Jounouchi was still alive, didn't register what going on until he noticed Jou charging him, sword drawn and very angry. He easily sidestepped Jou's attacks and he smirked. "You're angry." he stated plainly.

"You killed her!" Jou sputtered and made to thrust Seto in the ribs. But it seemed that whenever he attacked, the brunet just wasn't there any longer.

"You're sloppy when you're angry."

"Fuck you." he aimed for the blue-eyed man's head, but when he went to strike he found that he couldn't move his arm. Coiled around his wrist was a tree root holding his arm in place.

"You should watch who you say that to, dog." When Jou tried to punch the brunet with his free hand, he just summoned another tree root to hold down that hand too.

"What do you want from me priest?" Jounouchi asked angrily. Seto just snorted and pulled the roots downwards forcing Jou to his knees. "I won't bow to you!"

"I don't need filth like you bowing to me." He yanked angrily on the summon of the roots and they did likewise to Jou, causing him to hit the ground with a thud. Jou breathed in angrily and tried not to eat any dirt. Seto muttered an incantation under his breath and cast it upon Jou. "Tell me your name."

"You already know it bastard." The brunet rolled his eyes, if the blond would answer him he'd be able to make sure his truth incantation was working correctly.

"Are you a knight?"

"No!" Jounouchi gasped. He had meant to say yes. That could only mean... he was under the truth incantation. He growled angrily into the dirt.

"So, if you're not a knight, then what are you?" Seto asked as he created a small magic flame and played with it absently between his fingers.

"That's none of your business!"

"Hmm. I beg to differ." The brunet crouched down next to Jou and placed the fire on his shoulder, earning him a hiss of pain. "Want to answer now?" he asked with a smirk as he pulled the fire away.

"I-I'm a servant." the blond said painfully.

"For whom?"

"Why the hell should I tell you?"

Seto sighed in annoyance and sat next to the restrained blond. He had strange and unwanted emotions mixing around in his mind. He didn't want this mysterious blond to lash out at him like that, he had to find a way to get him to calm down. He sighed angrily. "I... She betrayed Ra... I just did my duty."

"You think saying that is gunna stop me from hating you?" the blond spat.

The brunet's glare sharpened. He grabbed the blond by the chin roughly and forced him to look up. "You need to learn when to shut up." Jou looked at him with a confused gaze. "Your eyes are a strange color... Unnatural. Tell me about it." Seto wanted to bash his head against the ground. But he was curious, he wasn't even sure why.

"Just leave me alone." Jounouchi said softly, looking away.

Seto wasn't about to drop the subject, but he knew when he wasn't going to get anything productive. Best to let it be for now. "If I let you go now... Tell me about it ... some other time."

Jou looked at him curiously. "Well... I guess I do owe you. Since you gave me all that money and saved my butt back there...You know.. In Drekkan... So I'll tell you. Some other time."

Seto stood up without another word. He felt pretty awkward for showing such mercy, but he would hold up his deal. With a wave of his hand the roots vanished and Jou stood uneasily. The shorter sheathed his sword and grinned.

"You know you're a pretty strange guy Kaiba."

Seto stared at him for a moment. He had forgotten that the Princess had shouted his name upon arrival. "Hn." was his only response.

"Man, I'm really starting to hate trees." he said as he rubbed his wrists. Jou's golden gaze fell upon the remains of Emeurade. Violently rubbing a small tear from the corner of his eye, he grabbed a small pouch that once held bread from his bag and scooped up some of the dust and closed it tight. "I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to the Royal family."

"Then don't." Seto said with a smirk.

"What the hell do you mean 'don't'? Do you have a he--" Jounouchi stopped talking and looked around, quickly his anger dissipated and his face lit up in a friendly smile. "See ya later, ya stick in the mud." In a flash of white light the blond was gone, leaving a confused brunet behind.

"We will meet again. Jounouchi." and with a incantation of his own, he returned home.

**End Chapter Two**

(1) – Really, it's a flashback. I just hate using so plainly.

_A/N: Thanks to my beta... And you should review... I have feelings too. No matter how hard that is to believe._


	4. Chapter 3: My Friends

_A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed, and also to my beta Danielle. Yes I found out her name. :)_

_(!) Disclaimer- Kuragari doesn't own Y-G-O or the characters by any means. Kuragari does not make money from writing this fiction, nor will he ever. Kuragari also takes no credit for the Magical Knight Rayearth references. Suing this author is not permitted in any state, country, or local residential area. Too bad._

**Fable**

Chapter Three: My Friends

Jounouchi felt the light envelop him in its warmth. All of his senses became distorted and his stomach turned in discomfort as he began to grow dizzy. With a gasp he stumbled forwards before catching his balance. He now found himself at the entrance of a thick dark forest. With a sigh he scratched the back of his head. Looks like he was rescued again.

"Are you alright Jou?" A small voice asked from beside him.

He looked over his shoulder to see his 'savior'. He chuckled lightly and patted the others spiky tri-colored hair. "Yeah Yug', I'm fine. I just don't think I'm ever going to get used to teleportation."

The short boy blinked up at him cutely with large amethyst eyes. "Why not? I've teleported you lots of times before."

Jou sighed. "Yug', there are just some things that people don't get over."

Yugi smiled, "You mean like your fear of spiders?" he asked innocently. Jou felt his eye twitch, but he couldn't bring himself to get mad at the other, he was too innocent. "Oh! I think I've gotten taller!" Yugi exclaimed, sensing Jou's discomfort.

"Oh?"

"Yup! Soon I'll be able to pass for a grown human." Yugi grinned.

"I dunno Yug'. I think is all you can pass as is a child right now." Jou laughed when Yugi pouted. "You shouldn't worry too much about it."

"But Jou! That would mean I learned how to hide my wings for nothing!" Again the spiky haired boy pouted and he unfurled his small wings. Jou was still amazed at how Yugi could fly around for days on those. They looked like two large, slightly withered maple leaves. "It's no fun being a infiltration faerie if I can't even disguise myself as a human my age."

"You know infiltration faeries disguise themselves as children."

"Yes but still." Yugi threw his arms up in mock anger. "Oh never mind. But Jou, it's good to see that your safe! Honda and Anzu are waiting to see you at the lake!"

"Huh? Waiting? Is something up? Is that why you came and got me? Not because of Kaiba?" Jounouchi could feel the confusion well up inside his belly.

"Who's Kaiba? Oh! Was it that man you were talking with earlier? Are you guys friends? Did I interrupt something?" Sometimes Yugi's innocence never ceased to amaze him. Yugi smiled happily and started to float into the forest. Jou stayed close behind.

"Well, not exactly..." Jou reached out a hand desperately as Yugi left his sight. He never failed to get lost in this forest, and he had no idea why. Maybe it just hated him.

He sighed in relief when Yugi's smaller hand grasped his. Yugi giggled. "Jou don't worry! I won't lose you! You're going to be so surprised at what's been going on around here lately. It's amazing!"

Jou pondered silently for a moment before asking, "What happened?"

"You'll see when we get to the lake." Jou pouted angrily, he hated surprises, causing Yugi to giggle at him childishly.

Quickly the two maneuvered through the dense forest, and soon they found themselves in a clearing with a large lake directly in the center.

"Yug'... It looks the same as it has for the past, well, forever."

Yugi let go of his hand and smiled before shouting, "Hey guys! I brought Jou!"

A bush to the left of the duo began to tremble with life. Jou turned towards it apprehensively and smiled when he saw a girl around his height with primped medium length brown hair and lively blue eyes, stand from within the bush.

"Hey Anzu!" he said loudly. He wasn't sure why he was so excited to see her.

Her small horse shaped ears turned towards the sound of his voice quickly. "Jou!" she exclaimed and stepped forwards, revealing her lower half. She stood tall on the legs of a goat, her fur the same color as her hair and a long goat tail with black hair at the ends waggled lazily behind her. She pawed the ground with a cloven hoof. "How have you been?" She took another step forward and threw her arms open in a welcoming gesture. (1)

Jou rolled his eyes and hugged one of his oldest friends. When she finally let him go, after what seemed forever to Jou, he was tackled from the side.

"Honda!" Anzu yelled, face drawn up in horror.

Jounouchi hit the ground with an audible "Oof!" and soon found himself in a headlock by someone much more powerful than him.

"Ah ha ha! It's good to see you Jou!" Honda rapped his knuckles against Jou's skull before he released him.

"Yeah yeah, c'mere and lemme do that to you. See how you like it." Jou said with a devious smirk as he crouched into a false attacking poise.

"Sure, just make sure you watch out for these little buggers." Honda said and pointed towards his head, indicated the two small stumps located directly above his temples. He smirked when Jou sat down roughly and sighed. Honda stretched his bat-like wings before grinning, showing off his sharp canines. "Did Yugi tell you about it yet?" he asked, grinning like the imp he was.

"About what?" he asked as he stood up.

Anzu moved next to Jou and glared down at Honda for his earlier actions. "About what has happened to the lake." she explained vaguely. He inched away slowly to avoid her pawing hooves. Those things hurt.

After watching the whole scene with amusement, Yugi chose that moment to flit over to Jou and pull him towards the edge of the lake. "Well, we'll just have to show him!" Anzu and Honda nodded in unison and they quickly followed beside Jou.

Suddenly Honda rushed forward and took a long leap above the lake. As soon as he was about to hit water, he opened his wings and with one flap he was able to propel himself forward to reach a small stepping stone located relatively near the shore. He looked at his reflection in the water before smiling, canines protruding slightly through thin lips. "Hey in there! Come on out! We want you to meet our good friend."

The sound of rushing water soon assaulted Jounouchi's ears. He looked towards the center of the lake and saw that a whirlpool was forming, although it was... backwards. Instead of sinking down, it was rising up, out of the water. The whirlpool began to take on features of a human; forming legs, a torso, arms and a head.

"Ummm... Guys?" he asked uncertainly. Anzu elbowed him in the ribs, telling him to just wait and see.

The features became more and more defined. Jou watched as the legs became long and slender, the torso thin and well endowed -showing Jou whatever _it _was, it was a woman-, the arms arched gracefully around and the head showed facial features and sported what would be the womans hair. She was covered in a long water cloth, that covered most of her body.

From what Jou could see, she was very beautiful.

"Hello there friend of my friends." the water woman said as she opened her eyes. That was when Jou realized just what this woman was. She stepped forward on the water and came closer to the three still standing on the shore. "I am Mai. Who are you?"

Jou did his best to smile, even though his stomach felt like he had just eaten a ton of cold rocks and was doing flip-flops in his chest. "I'm Jou." he forced out.

"Jou..." Mai seemed to be testing the sound of his name on her full lips. She smiled. "You know what I am. Do you not?"

Honda sighed loudly from his spot on the stepping stone. "Man, she asked all of us that, but none of us could figure it out!" he complained. Yugi and the others nodded.

"Yes," Jou began, holding his breath slightly. "You are a nymph of the water."

Mai pouted. "Well, it seems I underestimated you... but... this would mean you are of my kind as well! How is this?" Mai looked a paling Jounouchi over. Only a nymph could tell another nymph apart from the rest. But Jou was a male. All nymphs are female, only reproducing once in spirit form; although mating with another creature is possible, it was highly forbidden.

"I ain't got no idea what you're talkin' about! I'm human."

As if sensing his discomfort Mai nodded, "You're right. Such a silly mistake. It's not possible for you to be of my kind." She laughed heartily. Jou couldn't bring himself to laugh with her.

"Jou... Are you feeling alright?" Yugi asked him as Mai turned to have an animated conversation with Honda.

"Yeah Jou. You seem a little off today." Anzu added.

"It's been... A long day." He sighed and eyed Mai wearily. "If it's alright with you guys, I'd like to get some shut eye. I can't remember the last time I slept." and to emphasize his point he yawned widely.

Honda looked over Mai's shoulder at his best friend. "Hey, if you're tired, sleep. You're no fun when you're tired."

"Yeah yeah." Jou muttered as he made his way to what the others called their sleeping area. Is all it was, was a patch of soft grasses and mosses that could rival the comfort of even the most expensive bed made.

"And that's what I'm talking about!" Honda exclaimed.

Mai watched with interest as Jounouchi settled down and drifted off into slumber. She sat down and rested her legs in front of her in a feminine position. Her legs began to meld into the waters surface.

"What's your favorite color?" She spoke suddenly.

"Um, I like black." Yugi answered timidly while the other two tried to find their tongues from the sudden off subject question.

"I like purple, but water is blue." she sighed heavily, but it came out low and seductive. She didn't really mean to sound that way.

Anzu tapped her chin thoughtfully as she pawed at the ground. "But aren't you a nymph? Can't you change out of your spirit form and into a human one?"

Mai smiled sadly. "I used to. But I'm cursed. I'm stuck in this lake until the spell is broken. And with the terms put upon me, that is never likely to happen." her eyes drifted off to Jou's sleeping form. "I used to wear purple all the time."

"I'm really sorry to hear that Mai." Yugi said sadly.

"Don't worry your cute little self about it." she told him with a wink, causing the little faerie to blush. "But your friend over there. There is something strange about him... A good kind of strange." she finished off her explanation with a knowing grin. "How did all of you meet exactly?"

"When we were little." Honda said with an air of wisdom, he was just showing of course, "He used to get lost in this forest all the time. But back then more of us lived here at the lake and Jou kind of... found us one day. Most of the others had no idea what to do, but because we," he motion to Anzu, Yugi and himself, "were just kids, we made friends with him. He's the nicest human we know."

Mai listened to the story with interest. "Now sweeties, what if I told you that your friend there wasn't human? What would you say?"

"That's impossible!" Anzu said sternly. "If he wasn't someone would've known when we were kids!"

"She's right Mai. My people didn't sense anything about him." Yugi added shyly. "There's no way he is anything other than human, unless he is a halfbreed, and you know that they are killed upon birth."

Mai smiled at the satyr and the faerie. "Only a nymph can sense another nymph." she said cryptically before returning to the watery depths.

oOo

The moment Kaiba returned to the Palace, he was bombarded with questions from both the King and his brother.

"Seto! Where were you? Was it a calling from Ra? Did he speak to you? What did he say? Are you listening to me?" Atemu said quickly.

"Big Brother! Did you visit the Princess and that golden guy? What happened? Why didn't you take me with you? Don't you love me anymore?" Mokuba asked at the same time Atemu was talking.

"Hush! Both of you!" Seto's voice demanded to be heeded, even by the King. "I have no time for idle talk. Ra has given me an assignment and I had fulfilled it. He wishes to Speak. Leave me alone." Mokuba pouted and let go of his brothers robes as Atemu sighed greatly of relief. "I will talk to both of you later." he said before moving off to his private gardens.

"_It has been a while my herald_(2)_." _Said a strong voice that seemed to come from the air in his gardens, yet he was the only who could hear it.

"Indeed it has." Seto said flatly.

"_You do not seem very happy to hear from me my herald. But I am pleased, you have harbored my Will and found my devices all at once. I chose my herald well." _the voice chuckled and continued. _"My herald I have news. In six days time there will be a Selection for the new herald of Ihy, since he Closed to Rosette that time ago. You are to be present at the Selection, as will all the heralds."_

Seto sighed and rubbed his temples. "And where is the Selection."

"_Straight to the point as always. Do you not wish to Speak with me my herald?" _Ra sounded highly amused. As he always seemed when Ra would tease Seto.

Seto rolled his eyes. "You know I would _never _miss a chance to just 'chat' with you, but I do have more important things to be doing."

"_Indeed you do my herald. If only you would finish your work so you may Speak with me. You would be much better off. Don't you agree my herald?"_

Seto had to bite his tongue and count to ten before answering calmly. "Yes."

"_Ah, I'm pleased to know you believe so also. In that case I'll let you to work, and when you are finished we can Speak once more."_

Seto could hear the air howl with laughter before the link was cut abruptly. "Crazy deity!" Seto seethed and in a fit of anger he roughly threw a fire ball into a patch of his favorite lilies. "Damn!"

oOo

Jounouchi awoke early the next morning. He felt wide awake and refreshed, even a bit hungry. He sat up to find Yugi snuggled close to his leg with Honda and Anzu not too far off either. Carefully he stood up and retrieved his pack for something to eat. When he grabbed it he moved to the shore of the lake and began to dig through its contents.

"Good morning Jou." he looked up to see Mai laying in front of him on the waters surface, her cleavage showing in its watery form, but still _right there._

"Uh... Mornin' to you too." he said despite obvious distractions.

"How are you feeling? Much friendlier? I hope so because I'd really like to get to know you cutie."

Jou just nodded until he found what he recalled to be his bread pouch and fingered it with a hint of depression. "Well actually... I've gotta get going soon. I have... news that must be delivered to two parents."

"Oh? Is that so? Who is this lucky girl?" Mai asked, curiosity lighting up her watery gaze.

"Lucky? What do you mean...? Oh! No it's not like that! It's bad news. _Baaad_."

Mai giggled. "Well it doesn't sound so awful when you say it like that. What happened?"

Jou drew a deep breath and let it out to relax himself. "I... I failed. And... This girl... The Princess... lost her life.. because of my mistake."

"Oh dear! You poor thing." Mai sat up and clasped her hands around Jou's face. Surprisingly to Jou, her touch wasn't wet -being made of water he assumed she would be-, but it was just damp. "Tell me how it happened. I wish to know if I can be of any emotional help to you."

Jou was about to turn her down until he saw the genuine concern in her eyes. "Okay..." He spent the next few hours telling Mai, and the others as they woke up, the story of his failure with the Princess Emeurade while he ate breakfast at the same time to settle his stomach.

Finally he pulled out the pouch that contained the last of Emeurade's remains. "And this... this is all that was left."

Everyone stared at the pouch speechless. Honda grabbed Jounouchi's pack and began to rifle through it. "Woah! Jou this is one expensive looking crown thing!" he said as he pulled out a golden circlet with a finely cut diamond dangling from the center.

"That's Emeurade's!" he bellowed in disbelief. "How'd it...?" He looked at it more closely and he could sense the traces of Emeurade's soul on the circlet. "To have such a strong will..." he muttered and he took the circlet from Honda and examined it with awe. Even in death she was able to preform the task of giving Jou her precious circlet. This feat astounded him.

"Jou? Are you alright?" Anzu asked worriedly as Jou just continued to stare at the piece of finery.

"Yeah, I'm okay. A little shocked, but okay." he smiled and placed the circlet back into his pack. "Carry on without me for now, I really gotta take a leak."

"Oh gross Jou! I _really _didn't need to know that!" Anzu shrieked as the other laughed and continued to converse.

Jou headed to the forest and only stepped in a few feet, there was no way he was going to get lost in this forest while he was doing his business. That would just be too embarrassing. After selecting his tree he began to relieve himself.

"_Serf!" _A light voice called in his head cheerfully.

Jou jumped and blushed immediately. "Bad timing Yah. _Really _bad timing."

"_I realize that, but this is the only time you are by yourself." _Jou finished quickly and made himself proper. _"Much better. I have news for you!"_

"Really? What could be so important that you have to disturb me while I piss?"

"_I could think of a few things..." _Yah trailed off and seemed to think.

"Oh no, no! I don't want to hear anything that either you or Ra come up with!" he said fearfully. Those two had quite the imagination. And we're not talking about the good kind either.

"_Fine fine. You really are no fun serf. I don't know why Seth is so taken with you." _Yah continued before Jou could question his statement. _"Tomorrow in the morn Ryn will come to you. There is a Selection being held place in the Kingdom of Cephiro. You both are to be present, and you must deliver the news of Emeurade as well. This should be done preferably before the Selection takes place, therefore you must make haste."_

"Okay, I gotcha. I'll leave once Ryn arrives." Jou gave a happy sigh. "Well that means I have the rest of the day to just hang out and relax. Ryn can be such a hard ass."

"_I'm afraid you are correct about that. Don't tell her that. She shall give you that creepy stare." _Jou heard Yah chuckle before closing their mental link. He had wanted to tell him that Ryn's creepy stare was their fault to begin with, but he didn't have the heart.

"Hey guys I'm back!" Jounouchi said as he walked back into the clearing to join his friends.

"Geez man, what took you so long? What else were you doing in there?" Honda quirked an impish brow, causing Jou, Anzu and Yugi to blush.

"Ugh, Honda! Why do you have to be so disgusting?" Anzu yelled in shock. She never was one with keeping her voice down.

"She's right! Go be dirty somewhere else!" Jou yelled, mocking Anzu.

She huffed and pushed him over. "I don't talk like that." This caused the three boys to roll on the ground in laughter.

"Aww, now come on sweeties, you should play fair." Mai said with a pout. Only half of her body was risen from the water as she approached the shore, "Girls should always get better treatment." With a sly grin she took hold of Jou and Yugi's ankles and pulled them into the cold waters of the lake.

"Ra! The water's c-cold!" Jou stuttered as he and Yugi surfaced. He whipped his head around looking for Mai as Yugi crawled out and began to shake his wings dry with a laugh. "Where'd she go?"

"Right here sweetie." Mai responded from behind Jou. He grinned and splashed her with as much strength as he could muster.

The wave of water hit Mai and was absorbed into her form. She raised a thin brow. "Is that all you got?" she asked with a smirk. Jou gulped. Mai reached her arm into the water and Jou felt her hand wrap around his ankle.

"How--" he was yanked suddenly underwater. When he resurfaced he spat out water and laughed. "Okay okay! I give!"

Mai laughed girlishly. "My sweet little Jou. There is no such thing as giving up where I'm concerned." And with that she tugged him under again.

This continued for a while until Honda tried to rescue Jou only to be caught by Mai as well. Yugi and Anzu sat on the sidelines and cheered Mai on as she continued to dunk Honda and Jou with no effort. Once the two were out of breath she let them go and watched with amusement as the grumbled about never swimming again.

"I don't know about you guys," Honda said with a glance at the satyr and faerie, "but I'm beat."

Yugi moved and sat by the imp. "Well think of Jou, he was dunked way more than you were."

Jou stood up and shook his head, flinging water droplets everywhere. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm a little out of breath, but nothing I ain't used to."

"Hmm and what could possibly get you out of breath?" Mai said slyly.

"Running." Jou said without pause. Mai continued to stare at him until he understood her implications. "Oh c'mon! I ain't like that!" Mai and Honda laughed while the other two of the group remained oblivious.

"Anzu what is Mai talking about?" Yugi whispered to the satyr.

"I'm not exactly sure Yugi, but honestly I don't want to know either." she whispered back.

oOo

Seto growled angrily as he listened to another complaint from his fellow priests. He may be High Priest, but he shouldn't have to listen to this nonsense. Finally Seto lost his cool.

"I don't care." he stated hastily from his kneeling position. He _was _trying to pray at the moment. It was part of his job.

"But Priest Kaiba! This is a matter that concerns all Priests here in the Kingdom!" the short lanky man whined.

"Then tell _them _to figure it out! I'm just one of the many Priests in this Kingdom." he turned around to glare harshly at the man behind him before returning to his prayers. As soon as he was finished here, Ra would contact him once more, then he could report to Atemu and get the paranoid King off his back so he could spend quality time with Mokuba. He hated how just one person, deity or not, could control his schedule like that.

With a final whisper of gratitude he rose and headed directly to his personal garden. He was pleased to see that his once burned lilies were replaced and thriving. He traced one absently with a finger.

"_I never knew you liked flowers my herald." _the same strong voice that Seto was beginning to dread rang through the air.

"Just this kind." he replied.

"_Hm. I enjoy Sunflowers." _Ra said with a chuckle. Seto rolled his eyes at the horrible pun. _"It would seem you are finished with your chores my herald. Good job." _Again Ra chuckled. _"The Selection is to be held in the Kingdom of Cephiro."_

"Thank you." Seto said with a relieved sigh, as he was about to leave and report this to Atemu, Ra continued.

"_Ah ah ah. You can't leave now. You promised to Speak with me if I told you where the Selection was. You wouldn't go back on your word now would you my herald?"_

"I don't recall making such a promise."

"_But you did. Indirectly. And unknowingly. I've been waiting all day." _Seto was fuming. _"Don't be upset my herald. Just answer my questions, I'm curious is all."_

After biting his tongue and counting to ten Seto sighed, "Fine. Ask."

"_What do you like?"_

"Dragons, my brother, white lilies, and lemons." he answered in a bored tone.

"_Lemons? How like you." _Ra chuckled. _"Would you like to meet a dragon one day?"_

"Perhaps."

Ra paused for a moment to think. _"Do you like dogs?"_

Seto shrugged. "I can tolerate them." he answered, only to find the link closed right after his answer. He blinked and shrugged again. Not like he cared much anyway.

He made his way to the Royal Chamber and knocked, letting himself in before waiting for a response.

"Do you have news?" Atemu asked as he continued to remove his boot from his sitting position on his elaborate bed.

"Yes. In six days time there will be a Selection held in the Kingdom of Cephiro. I am to be present, as will my fellow High Priests." Seto leaned against the closed door.

"Hm, this is good news. When Ihy Selects his new High Priest then Cephiro will be open to market and trade once again. That cut off took a drastic toll on the economy and people."

"Are we done here?" Seto asked impatiently. He needed to see Mokuba.

"Yes, but Mokuba is very upset right now. He was saying something about not being loved anymore." Atemu rolled his eyes in good nature. "You had better go and prove him wrong."

"I plan to." he said as he left the room to go and comfort his younger brother.

oOo

Jou and his friends sat together and watched the sun bleed down behind the trees of the forest.

"So you're leaving in the morning?" Yugi asked in a hushed voice, as if he was afraid to break the peaceful silence all five of them shared.

"Yeah, but it really was great to see all of you guys again. I don't mean to be so busy all the time." he said with a sigh. He never really did see his friends as often as he used to.

"It's okay Jou. We understand. We're your friends and we'll be here for you whenever you need us, okay?" Anzu said with a smile.

"Okay."

"And if you're ever in some kind of trouble, don't come here man! I don't want to get caught up in your messes!" Honda said with a laugh. "No joke though. You get into some wacky situations."

"At least I know I can always count on you Honda." Jounouchi said sarcastically.

"Yup, it's no problem." The group laughed and fell back into their peaceful silence.

After a long time and the stars began to sparkle one by one, Yugi spoke up once more. "You know... Someday, I'd like to see the world beyond the lake. Actually travel around and not teleport here and there to get this and that. I want to see what there is to see and meet all kinds of different people, like Mai."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "Ya know Yug', that's a good dream ta have. You should stick to it."

"Thanks Jou." Yugi muttered as he stood up, the rest following suit.

"I think it's high time we get some sleep, knowing my luck I'm going to have'ta get up pretty early tomorrow." After muttering their respective goodnights, the group succumbed themselves to sleep.

"Jou, wake up."

He grumbled and rolled away from the feminine voice and snuggled closer to Yugi. A sharp kick to the rear had him up in no time flat. "Ow! What'd ya do that fer?" he grumbled and detached Yugi from his arm. He glared up at the person who had kicked him and wasn't surprised to see that it was Ryn, arriving before the sun even came up. She was a servant to the Four just as he was, but she never told Jou her story of how she became one. He figured it was as painful for her as it was him.

"We must make haste." she replied in a flat voice that seemed to hold no emotion.

"Can't I at least say goodbye?" He pleaded, giving his comrade puppy dog eyes. He stared into her unnaturally black eyes. They looked dead, like the eyes of a corpse, yet they were extremely beautiful at the same time. Horrifyingly beautiful. Her sun worn features stayed in a straight emotionless line. He was beginning to think his pleading was having no effect.

"If you must." she said at great length. She turned sharply towards the forest, a long braid of brunet hair whipping behind her. "But I _will _leave you behind."

"Wha- uh! That's not fair!" he yelled in protest as he stood up quickly to gather his belongings. "Argh! Guys wake up! I'm leaving now!" he yelled to his snoozing friends as he shook Yugi.

The small boy groaned. "I'll get up later..." he mumbled as he fell back asleep. Jou sighed in defeat.

"Don't worry hun. I'll let them know you said bye for now. You go on ahead." he looked over to see Mai lounging lazily on the waters surface.

"Thanks a lot Mai, I owe ya."

"It's nothing at all, but you better get going. Your little friend is leaving." Mai pointed to Ryn, who was beginning to walk in the forest.

"No Ryn! Wait for me! I'll get lost without you!"

Ryn stopped and waited for Jou to catch up. "This forest is not one to become lost in easily" she stated in a bored tone as he walked next to her.

"Yeah. I think this forest has it out for me. No matter what happens, I get lost in this forest. Usually I just hold hands with whoever I'm traveling with and I'll be fine." Jou smiled and laughed at himself briefly.

"Okay." Ryn moved her hand closest to Jou behind her back. "I refuse to hold your hand though."

"Well! Some friend you are." he joked as he continued to stay close.

"We're almost out, you should prepare yourself." Ryn looked over at him, the black in her eyes seeming to spread in the dark of the forest.

"For what?"

"Endurance test." she said simply as she adjusted her bow and quiver on her back.

"Are you challenging me to a foot race?" he asked with a sly grin as he also adjusted his equipment to better suit himself to running.

"Possibly." Ryn shrugged carelessly. "Afterwards we'll teleport as far as I can take us before we rest."

"Yes ma'am!" he said with a mock salute. He was always trying to get a rise from Ryn. Probably because it was considered impossible. But Jou wasn't one to think anything as impossible.

Ryn blinked at him with an emotionless glance. The trees parted slowly before abruptly coming to an end. Ryn took off in a sprint before Jou had any idea what was happening. He cursed loudly before taking off after her, but at a slower pace. She ran faster, true, but he could run longer.

It was an hour later before Ryn slowed to the point of Jou passing her. He grinned wickedly and poked his tongue out at her as he passed, but she just panted and shrugged. It took another fifteen minutes for her to admit defeat for them to catch their breath.

"I beat you." Jounouchi stated with a boastful grin.

"That's what you say now." Jou had forgotten that Ryn was a terrible loser. She moved closer and pulled the blond into a bone crushing hug. She began to say an incantation of teleportation. Ryn was a human that could also wield magic without priestly training or the bloodlines of a magician. Even though the magics that humans used she was poor at, it was the more complex and unearthly magics that she would excel in, although her power was weak. When others use teleportation incantations, in order to teleport another being is to touch them. Ryn had to have as much contact as possible, and she could only travel a few miles at a time. Unlike others who could travel half the world in one spell. He wasn't absolutely sure how she had come to be so.

Soon the light enveloped Jounouchi once more and he could feel the distortion of his senses and the nausea that came along with it. When his feet touched ground once more, Ryn shoved him away violently and he stumbled to the ground to dry heave since he had had nothing for breakfast.

"Teleportation still makes you sick." it was a statement, not a question. Ryn never asked questions. He assumed that she preferred to sound as if she was right.

"Yeah." he said as he spat on the ground and sat down. He pulled out some fruit from his pack and handed some to Ryn as she sat down across from him. They ate in a comfortable silence, until Jou broke it. "So how many days of this run, skip, trip traveling until we get to Cephiro?"

Ryn swallowed her mouthful before answering in her usual flat tone. "Three days."

oOo

Ryou sighed into his mirror for the umpteenth time. The Selection for Ihy was three days away and he was... nervous. Being the High Priest for Yah, he was required to be present. But that meant _he _would be there too.

He stared at his pale face intently. Smooth skin, soft brown eyes, fluffy white hair. A picture of innocence. He brought a hand to his cheek and ran his fingers down his face, imagining the skin underneath the pads of his fingers to be rugged and torn; scarred.

How was it possible for two people to look so much alike one another, but be so different at the same time? He was confused and a bit frustrated with himself.

"Excuse me sir."

Ryou jumped and dropped his hand quickly to his side. "Can I help you?" he asked in a quiet voice.

A young girl in a frilly purple velvet maids outfit bowed to him respectfully, the silver lace ribbons and trim swaying in the moonlight with her movement.

"It's time for me to clean your chambers sir." Her hands wrung nervously from their place on her lacy apron.

Ryou smiled warmly. "Oh! You must be the new maid."

"Yes sir I am." she replied, her voice wavering slightly. She wasn't accustomed to talking to those of high status, she was night shift after all, and he wasn't supposed to still be awake.

"Well it's nice to meet you. I'll leave so you can begin your work in peace." Ryou gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked past her. He wandered the Palace's empty halls. It was very early in the morning, the moon was just beginning to descend in the diamond lit sky. He did feel bad for startling that poor maid, he should've been asleep.

Before he knew it, he found that his feet had lead him to one of the many balconies of the Palace, staring up at the silver moon.

"I don't understand." he muttered to himself. "Just what is this that I'm feeling?"

"_What is ailing you my herald?"_ the soft voice of Yah spoke.

Ryou sighed and leaned onto the balcony railing. "I do not know." he said truthfully. "But whatever this feeling is, it's very uncomfortable."

"_Come now my herald! You can tell me. Do you not trust me?"_

"Oh no it's nothing like that! Of course I trust you!" Ryou said earnestly earning an amused chuckle from Yah. "Is there something you need?" he asked the deity hesitantly. Yah was pretty unpredictable.

"_I have a task for you, my herald." _Yah said, suddenly serious. _"There is a young knight returning from a mission to Cephiro. He has failed, although the outcome was inevitable, and the Princess has lost her life. I need you to meet this man and use your influence and abilities to insure his safety from the grief and wrath of the King."_

Ryou blinked in surprise. He was usually never asked to do things such as this. This was important, could possibly be dangerous even! He was just a delicate healer turned High Priest by sheer circumstance. "I- I will do my best!"

Yah chuckled. _"Do not worry. I have faith in you my herald!"_ The link was broken and Ryou stood a while longer on the balcony. He was really going to do this! An actual task that the High Priests were known to preform for the Gods.

He gave a tired yawn. He'd get to it in the morning.

oOo

Jou sat on the ground as the wave of dizziness passed over him.

It was dark. Early morning. The Selection would be held tomorrow at dusk. He glanced into the horizon at the sparkling lights of Cephiro City. Ryn collapsed next to him.

"Ya tired?" he asked even though he knew it was a stupid question. Teleportation never was as easy as most people make it seem. It consumes large amounts of energy and twice as much when teleporting another person.

His only answer was a soft snore from his comrade. He didn't understand why someone would push themselves like she did, especially for him. He knew Ryn wasn't exactly fond of him. Or anyone for that matter. She normally kept to herself.

He shook his head. He needed to get some sleep before the sun rose because Gods knew he was going to need it after he told the Royal couple what happened to their only child.

'Wait... Only child?' Didn't Emeurade say she had a sister? Adanne? Now that didn't make much sense. He vividly recalled them telling him Emeurade was their only child. Did that mean...? No it couldn't. There was no way. But the way Emeurade's face lit up when she spoke of her sister, it was similar to his own. He knew she wasn't lying.

"Ugh! So confusing." he messed up his hair in frustration before lying back. "Stop thinking. Sleep." he commanded himself, but his mind wouldn't shut down. His thoughts drifted to random events of his life, the multiple times he was almost killed, every victory he'd ever won, and slowly he thought of the Royal couple. How would their faces look at the news? The tears the Queen would shed, the interior of the cell he was bound to be thrown in. He pushed the thoughts away.

The color blue flooded into his mind's eye. It reminded him of Mai. Doomed to be a spirit of the lake rather than renown for her beauty as a nymph. He really did like Mai, he really did, but she was suspicious of him, he knew it. Knowing this, he was uneasy in her presence, Honda thought he had a crush on the water nymph. If only he knew. He could see the intelligence in her watery eyes. She probably already knew! It all depended if she would tell anyone else of her findings.

How _would_ the others react if they found out that he wasn't what he said he was? He could see the looks of hatred and betrayal on the faces of his friends. Anzu, Honda, Yugi, Mai, even Emeurade. It hurt. Shook his very core. Violently he shoved the images to the back of his mind. He kept pushing and pushing until only one image remained. A pair of ocean blue eyes.

What would those eyes look like if the peered down upon him with scorn; with an unnamed hatred for what he was. Jou felt like he was going to be sick. Never did he want to see that look, even in his mind. He sighed. He knew what he had to do. It was a risk he was willing to take.

"Get up." came the slightly groggy voice of Ryn. He shut his eyes tighter, not remembering when he had closed them.

A not so soft kick to the thigh had him standing in no time. "Alright alright, I'm up, sheesh." he blinked as the early morning sun burned his eyes for a moment. Was he up thinking for that long? He didn't recall falling asleep.

"Let's go."

"Right."

They began the short trek towards the city. Ryn was emotionless as always but kept throwing unreadable glances at Jou. "I won't let them hurt you." she said at long last.

Jou sighed. "You shouldn't involve yourself in this." he said with a shake of his head.

Ryn stared him down. "I will _not _let them hurt you."

"Well the thought is nice and all..." he was suddenly grabbed harshly by the arm and yanked back a few paces.

"Maybe you don't understand." Ryn said, her voice cold. "You are just like me. We share the same pain. I will not let them hurt family."

Jou blinked. He had completely forgot. They were one in the same. Family. "Oh. I'm sorry." was all he could think to say.

Ryn stared hard at him before walking towards the Castle. Jou trudged after her with a mournful look. How could he have been so stupid? He was the only one Ryn had left. Even he still had his friends.

They approached city limits. Trickles of busy people began to converge into one rushing river of bodies. He glanced to the woman on his right. "Ryn?" she gave no notion of hearing him.

He let out a frustrated sigh and decided to observe his surroundings to keep his mind occupied and off the events that were to take place in just an hour or two. Buildings were crammed together with people bustling in and out of them, a large woman was yelling at some small rift-raft child, possibly for stealing, and there was a cloaked man hunched over in what seemed to be pain. He gave the man a concerned glance.

After nudging Ryn in the side he made his way to the distressed man. "Are you alright?" he asked tenderly; yet even so he was still on his toes, it could still be a dangerous situation.

"Oh, I'm just a little dizzy is all." the man looked up to reveal warm brown eyes and thick white hair framing a pale hooded face. "Thank you for your concern."

Jou's brow wrinkled in thought. He pulled off his bag and dug out a waterskin. "Here." he said as he handed the water to the stranger. "Drink this, it helps it to pass." he gave the other a knowing look.

"I... Thank you very much." the brown eyed man took a generous gulp of the soothing liquid. He began to hand the skins back as the world stopped spinning, but it was pushed back towards his chest.

"Keep it. I've plenty more." Jou grinned as the pale man blinked in confusion before smiling gratefully.

"Thank you stranger! I owe you a debt. Oh! But I must hurry along. Thank you again!" with those parting words the white haired man took off down the streets.

"You are too kind." a flat voice said from behind him.

He shrugged and began walking down the streets again. "Perhaps I am. It's just the way I am, I suppose." Ryn made no response and Jou took it as a good sign. They traveled to the Palace gates in complete silence.

"How may I aid thee, citizens?" a finely dressed guard asked as they approached.

Jou bowed as Ryn curtsied -despite wearing close fitting trousers-, "I've come to ask an audience with the King." Jou said as formally as he could muster.

The guard shook his head. "That I cannot permit. His Grace, Ryou of Yah, had just arrived not so long ago."

Jou resisted the urge to bash his skull in on the nearest wall. Ryn gave a loud snort. "How dare you. You do not recognize your own King's watch. You are useless." her dead gaze sharpened. "We bear news of the border and you _will _let us in. _Now_." her face revealed no symptoms of lies, her voice commanding and authoritative.

The guard looked as if he were about to question Ryn, but she stared hard at him, unblinking. This was the look that Jou and The Four referred to as the 'creepy stare'. She wouldn't blink for several long minutes and if you made direct eye contact, it would seem as if you were falling into a pit of no return. There were many occasions that Jou wished he had this talent.

The guard stuttered for a moment before moving aside. "Y-yes ma'am!" The duo moved through the iron gates and over the wooden draw bridge. When they got inside the large Castle they relied solely upon Jou's remembrance of his previous visit. They came upon a set of great double doors with a short oily man standing in front of them, dressed in white stockings and a maroon tunic.

"Can I help you?" he said in a slow and derogatory way, as if they were too stupid to understand him.

"In matter of fact you can." Jou said with a roll of his golden eyes. "You can get us an audience with the King. We bear... news. Of his daughter."

The man's eyes widened. "News of Emeurade! I'll get you an audience right away sir and madam!" The man scampered off down a hall, reminding Jou in an abstract way of a wet rat.

"Prepare yourself." Ryn said with a sigh. "I have a feeling this is going to get... strange."

Jou looked up at the elaborately carved doors. "Strange huh? Well, at least I'm used to strange." There was a long pause before the two large doors opened and the same oily man beckoned them inside.

"Your Majesty awaits you." he said with a seedy smile. Jou and Ryn took one final glance at each other before following the man.

Jou recognized the room right away. Stone floors with randomly placed tiles of ivory on the floor, high, lofty ceiling that captured all noise and bounced it across the room, two large, plush chairs sitting high above a set of polished stairs. The Royal couple were seated upon said chairs.

"Knight Jounouchi!" the King said in obvious surprise. "I hadst not known of your return!" Jounouchi and Ryn bowed in respect. "What is thy news? Couldest thou not penetrate the castle upon which Emeurade dwells?"

Jou's gaze hit the floor. He couldn't bring himself to tell them what had happened. Ryn stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Emeurade has died." she said bluntly.

"What?" the Queen cried and stood from her throne. "Thou is a lair!" she accused Ryn. Ryn just stared blankly at the woman, seemingly careless.

Jou blinked back a few tears that pricked the sides of his eyes and he dug through his bag to grab the pouch containing Emeurade's remains and her circlet.

"Milady, Milord. This... This is all that remains of your precious daughter." he knelt on one knee and held out the items. "I... I will never forgive myself for this occurrence."

The King stood and walked to Jounouchi. He picked up the items and studied the circlet closely. Suddenly he choked on a sob. "This circlet! The very one Emeurade held so dear. This news can only hold truth." he returned to his throne to comfort his hysterical wife. "Tell us. How did this come to happen."

"She was... she was murdered Milord." he said honestly.

"What is the name of the foul hand that dare?" the Queen yelled in outrage. Jou paused. He didn't want to tell them _who_. He knew it was wrong but...

"It was by an unknown sorcerer Milady." Ryn said coolly. "The name of vengeance will not appear to us."

"How do we know it wasn't _thee_." the Queen shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Ryn. She didn't even blink at the statement.

"'Twas not Ryn!" Jou bellowed. "She cannot kill!" Ryn shot him a heated glare, forcing him to shut his mouth with a snap.

"Ah! But it may have been thee!" the Queen said hysterically, now pointing at Jou. "How can one trust thou? Mere rift-raft such as yourself!" Jou bit back an angry statement. He wanted nothing more than to shut the woman up.

"'Twas neither." came a new, yet somewhat familiar voice. Jou looked up to see a man with white hair and soft brown eyes descend the polished staircase to face the duo. He was dressed in silver flowing robes with the seal of Yah embroidered onto his chest.

"It's you." Jou said stunned. Who would've guessed that a total stranger could actually be someone of power?

"I must thank you again, my friend. That water you gave me was very fine. As a healer I am always pleased to find different treatments for ailments." he gave the two a soft smile before turning and facing the Crowns.

"Your Grace Ryou!" the King said in a relieved tone. "I'm very sorry for my wife's foolishness. She... Is having problems coping with such loss."

"I understand. Yet... Yah tells me this was inevitable. But there is more. A secret. Perhaps you should share with me what it is?" Ryou said, his voice no longer warm and sweet, but stern.

"Y-your Grace!" the Queen said with a shocked expression, her blonde hair in disarray. "T-there is no secret!"

Jounouchi erected himself to his full height. "It's okay Milady. Tell His Grace about Adanne."

The Royal couple froze and looked to Jou in horror. "How did you...?" the King began. Ryou's eyes glazed over temporarily before he shook his head and spoke.

"Yah says that the golden one is correct. You must reveal her existence tomorrow. At the Selection. The newest High Priest will know her name. That is how you shall know." Ryou bowed and beckoned Ryn and Jou to him. "I shall see to it that you both receive your own chambers. From what I understand you are to be present. Yes?" Both Ryn and Jou nodded. "Splendid! Follow me. We shall spend the rest of the time until the Selection together. I do owe you golden one."

Jou smiled "I'm Jou."

Ryou smiled in return. "And who is the dark one?"

"Ryn." she answered flatly.

"Well, it is wonderful to meet your acquaintance." The two nodded and proceeded to follow Ryou through the castle.

Jou sighed in contentment. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he had first thought.

**End Chapter Three**

1. honestly I don't hate Anzu all that much. She can be annoying, I agree, but that's really all.

2. herald- basically a messenger for the higher ups.

_A/N: I hope you all enjoyed. Next chapter is much more eventful, I promise. :) --Kuragari_


	5. Chapter 4: Hidden Past

_A/N: I hope this answers a lot of everyone's questions!_

**Fable**

Chapter Four: Hidden Past

Jou lay back in his plush bed that accommodated the bedchamber he had been given for the night. He rolled over with a tired sigh. The bed was just too soft for him. He had been sleeping on the ground for the past two weeks and it seemed that his body had grown used to the cold hard dirt.

"This just isn't fair." he said to himself with a pout. Grabbing a few of the comforters off the bed he moved and situated himself on the carpeted floor. He was both physically and mentally exhausted, but it seemed that Lady Sleep was merciless tonight.

With a yawn he stood and searched his room for his prized sword. He may be safe within the confines of the castle, but he never felt secure without his trusty weapon at his side. Rolling down the cotton sleeves to his shirt he opened his door and roamed the darkened halls. The only light provided to him was a faint glow of torchlight somewhere in the distance. He didn't mind though, the darker it was, the more it was like being outside. He inhaled deeply but was disappointed when is all he could smell was musty dust and cobblestone.

"Maybe some fresh air will do me some good." he mumbled. Having not the slightest clue as to where to go, he allowed his feet to take him wherever they pleased. Soon he found himself in some sort of garden. Hoping that he wasn't trespassing in the royal gardens or anything, he walked along and viewed the flowers with as much stealth and dexterity as he could muster. He came upon a patch of white lilies and he paused to smell them. These flowers were his favorite scent, he couldn't say much for their looks, for they seemed pretty plain looking to him, but their smell was wonderful.

"_Serf, I did not know you liked flowers!" _came a small childish voice in his mind.

"Of course I do Ihy. I used to pick wildflowers all the time for my mother and sister when I was a little kid." he whispered with a soft smile on his face.

"_Oh, I did not know that either. You never tell us much about your childhood."_

"I never had much of a childhood." came the soft, slightly resentful answer.

Ihy paused. _"I-I'm very sorry about that." _the childish god sounded as if he was about to cry.

Jou shook his head. "I... don't blame you guys anymore. What other choice did you have? I should be glad I'm even alive."

"_Serf... I--" _Ihy was cut short by another, more baritone voice in the link.

"_Serf! Head to the front gates! I want you to meet someone." _Jou quickly recognized the voice as Ra.

With a frustrated growl he removed his face from the lily patch and headed back the way he came. "I have no idea where the front gates are." he grumbled as he picked a random direction and began to walk.

He was surprised when a soft glow of white light appeared before him and took on the form of a small child. _"Take my hand serf, I'll show you the way." _the figure extended what would be its hand. Jou grabbed the eerie hand and almost gasped when he felt that the hand was warm and seemed as if he was holding the hand of a child.

"Let's go then." he said after calming his unsettled senses. He allowed the small figure to pull him gently through many mazes of stone halls until Jou became more and more familiar as to where he was at.

"_Serf, be careful. Ra is being... Strange lately. Seth too. I don't understand." _Ihy said as they walked past the great double doors that lead into the audience chamber.

Jou gave the white figure a calculating look before pushing open the large door leading to the outside. The figure faded away and the sensation of holding a child's hand disappeared.

"Who could possible be out here at this time of night?" he mumbled to himself as he stepped outdoors.

"Expecting someone mutt?" came a cold familiar voice. 

Jou stopped and looked at the source of the deep voice. "You're here awfully late." he stated stupidly.

"I realize that. This was the only time I could travel without having Mokuba cling to me." the tall brunet said in a sharp tone.

Jou cocked his head to the side, not understanding. "Mokuba? Who's that?" he asked curiously.

"That is none of your concern." Seto said with an annoyed glance at the blond. "What are you doing here?"

"Ra asked me to come here." he said. He'd already decided that he would tell the brunet his secret, so there was no hiding it now.

"Blasphemy." Seto said. "Only I, High Priest of Ra, can hear his whims... unfortunately." 

Jou laughed and slapped his knee, earning a sneer from the taller. "I'll agree with you there. But I'll explain all in good time, for now you should just get in the castle and make your presence known. I know you're just dying to."

Seto snorted in distaste. "Actually, I prefer to not have a procession trample about me wherever I go."

Jou blinked a few times. That really wasn't what he expected. The man just seemed to be one of those types that would scream for attention. But this bit of information was actually pleasing to the blond. "Well... If ya want to be all quiet about it, you can stay the night in my room. I was planning on sleeping on the floor anyway."

It was Seto's turn to blink. He couldn't believe that the blond trusted him to actually sleep in the same room as him when he had murdered someone in front of his very eyes. "Sleep on the floor...?" he repeated slowly.

"Yeah. The bed was _way _too soft for me." Jou said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He shook his head at the others unnatural hesitation. "Come on. Just follow me." he turned and walked into the building, not really caring if the other was following him or not.

"Why exactly are you here?" the brunet asked after a few minutes of silent traveling.

Jou smiled. So other was following him. "I'm here with my partner. We had to give the news of Emmie."

"That doesn't explain why you are _still_ here." he said with a bored tone. Seto watched Jou for a moment as the blond looked around the corridor they were in. "Do you even know where your room is?"

"Of course I do!" Jou shot back as he placed his hand on a knob of a door. "I think it's this one..." he muttered to himself. Soon his eyes glazed over for a few brief seconds and he pulled his hands away from the door. "Ah ha ha, now that I think about it, it's the one down this way."

Seto raised a brow but didn't say anything until they were both in what Jou said was his room for the night. They stood in an awkward silence until Seto decided it was enough and moved to the bed sitting down with the grace of a swan before crossing his legs. "You didn't answer my earlier question." he said as he adjusted a few of the pillows on the bed.

Hesitantly Jou unstrapped his sword from his side and sat on the floor with a thud. "Oh, about that. We're only here because His Grace Ryou asked us to stay the night in the castle. He said that it would be pretty pointless to sleep in the city and return here for our mission." Jou gave a casual shrug before situating himself on the floor.

"Mission? Ryou? Sounds like you have quite the story to tell." Seto said and looked around the room while tracing his Millennium Rod with a finger. He decided to keep it at his side rather than risking the blond stealing it. As if he would. Seto shook his head. Of course he would, because if he wouldn't that would force him to trust the other. He gave a sigh. "Ryou is too kind." he said at long last.

Jou gave a snort. "I've heard that before." he rolled over to face Seto. "Do you think it's a bad thing to be too kind?"

Seto laid back and opted not to look at the blond. "I suppose not. But there is a point that too much kindness can serve as a fault."

"Same can be said for being too cold." Jou said quietly. Seto chose to not respond, but the blond didn't seem to be looking for a response, because he continued, "But... that would balance out wouldn't it? Like a scale. Kind on one side and cold on the other, then it just sort of... evens out. Am I right?"

"I don't even know what you're trying to delude to." Seto said and covered himself with a blanket before closing his eyes.

"Me either." Jou admitted with a yawn. "G'night stick in the mud."

The taller didn't say anything until he heard the blonds breathing even out. He rolled over to look at the sleeping teen. Golden hair framed a sun-kissed face, pink lips parted to allow in precious air. Seto blinked. There was no way he was describing the other in a way that made it seem as if he liked him. It would be acceptable if the blond was a girl, but... Seto shook the thoughts from his head and rolled back over. He was just tired. That's where the strange thoughts came from. That's all.

oOo

Mokuba padded softly down stone halls on bare feet. Seto had left a few hours ago and he couldn't sleep. It was much too hot. Soon enough he came to his destination. The royal chambers. He nodded to the guards and stepped inside the room without so much as a knock.

"Atemu?" Mokuba called when he closed the door quietly behind himself. "Atemu are you in here?"

"What are you still doing awake Mokuba?" Mokuba looked around and found Atemu sitting at a large desk covered in papers. Atemu was hunched slightly in his chair, wearing his silk pajamas with the top buttons undone due to the unusual night heat.

"I couldn't sleep." he said and hopped up onto the king's large bed. "What are you doing?"

"Curious dear cousin?" Atemu asked with a lazy smile. Mokuba nodded his head enthusiastically. "I'm going over trade offers and the Kingdom's market stability as of late."

"Wow. Can I help?"

Atemu shook his head. "No. You know you must finish your studies before you can begin to train as my aid."

"Yeah yeah. I know. You sound just like Seto. Geez." Atemu chuckled lightly. "But... speaking of Seto. I worry for him."

"You shouldn't fret dear cousin. Your brother will be just fine. He'll return home before you know it."

Mokuba shook his wild mane of hair. "That's not what I mean Atemu. Of course Seto can take care of himself, _no one_ can beat Seto, but I'm afraid that once I finish my studies..."

"That Seto will be left alone when you leave to train under the Great Scribe." Atemu finished for him.

"Exactly. I don't want to leave him by himself. I'd never forgive myself." Mokuba looked down to the covers of the huge bed and began to fiddle with them. "Is all Seto has is me, you -even though he doesn't show it-, and Ra. And I'm afraid that Ra will soon Close to him. It could happen anytime now."

"Very true. I must admit, it seems to be a miracle that Ra hasn't Closed to him and found himself a new priest."

Most people believed Seto to be extremely powerful and a prodigy of his time because he had been High Priest to Ra for more than five years, while most are High Priests for only two or three years before the god would move on to a new messenger of their choice. Ra always chose priests, Yah chose healers, Ihy chose those with green eyes and no one ever seemed to find a pattern in those of Seth.

"We have to help him Atemu!" Mokuba said grabbing a pillow and holding it close.

Atemu smiled at the display. "Then I propose we find Seto a... special someone, as most would call it."

"And I have a pretty good idea who too." he said, a small glint appearing in the young boy's eyes.

"In any case, we should dwell more upon this in the morn. You should head to bed now dear cousin."

"Ah... um, can I have Anansi sleep with me tonight? Not because I'm scared or anything. There's just this weird sound coming from the halls is all. Not scared one bit."

Atemu chuckled. "Of course Mokuba." he stood and moved to the other side of the bed and looked underneath it. "Anansi, come on out." he whispered in a soothing tone. Slowly a gray spider the size of a large cat crawled out from beneath the bed and seemed to purr at Atemu. "Hello Anansi, would you like to spend the night with Mokuba?" he asked as he scratched the spiders chin.

Anansi made a loving hissing sound and looked around the room with its many eyes for the said boy.

"Yay! Anansi let's go to my room!" Mokuba said with a childish squeal as he jumped off the bed to pick up the pet arachnid in his arms as if it were just a domestic feline. The boy continued to talk to the spider as he closed the door to Atemu's chambers and continued to his room.

With a smile Atemu climbed into his bed. Even though Seto could be as friendly as a rattlesnake, he was confident in Mokuba's abilities to find someone that could resist his poison.

oOo

Jou woke up fairly early the next morning feeling refreshed and hungry. He strapped on his sword, pulled on his bronze chain mail and leather boots before he noticed that the brunet was no longer around. He shrugged and went to find Ryn.

"I wonder what we should do today." he thought out loud. "Maybe we could go and check out the city. We have all day until the Selection. We could see what kind of food they sell here! And maybe we could take Ryou with us!" he laughed at his own genius.

"Stop talking to yourself." Jou turned around to find Ryn walking behind him. 

"Heh, what do you think then? Sounds like a good idea right?" Ryn sighed and walked next to him. "Come on! It's not like we have anything better to do! And I'm really hungry."

Ryn gave him a dull glance. "Fine." she said after a long pause.

"Yes! I always knew you loved me way way way, deep deep deep --"

Ryn slapped him on the back of the head and glared hard at him. "Shut up. I don't love you." she said in a flat tone.

Instead of feeling hurt or rejection, Jou smiled and wrapped an arm around Ryn's shoulder only to be shrugged off. "That's okay, I know ya care and that's all I need ta know."

"Oh there you two are! I was just on my way to get you! You both are early risers." Ryou called in a cheery voice as he bounded down the hall towards the duo. "The castle is in such a commotion after they found out that His Grace Seto arrived sometime last night."

"So your free then?" Jou asked casually.

"Why... Yes I believe so. Until sundown that is."

"Then you can come with us to town and check out the food stands!"

Ryn shook her head. "And a blacksmith as well."

Ryou's eyes lit up with joy. "That sounds wonderful! And perhaps we could search for a herbalist shop too?"

Jou grinned. "Of course! But breakfast first! I'm starved!" Jou said and motioned for Ryou to show them the way out. "I have some money on me, but its not a lot." he admitted.

Ryn nodded, "I too have small funds, but it should be enough."

"Well, don't you two worry! Today is on me. It's been awhile since I've been out in good company." Ryou frowned slightly. "Sometimes it's really a bother to be a High Priest."

Jou and Ryn silently agreed with him, but said nothing as they followed the small, cheery man in front of them.

Before heading outside, both Ryou and Ryn donned hooded cloaks. Ryou to hide his identity and Ryn so that other passerbys wouldn't become too suspicious of only one cloaked person, but Ryn chose to keep the hood down, for visibilitys sake.

When they finally reached the center of town, Ryou was overwhelmed with the amount of people moving about, pressing into him, ignore him, treating him as if he was just another one of them. He loved it.

"Over here!" Jou said with a grin and pointed to an old couple hawking their wares. The stand was filled with fruits and vegetables. The stall next to it had meats and the next breads and pastries, all in convenient position for hungry customers. Jou made his way to each of the stalls and forced the other two to pick something from each of them also. He was a firm believer in eating in a well-balanced manner, he was also careful of what he put into his body and in turn he watched out for his friends as well. Food may be delicious, addicting, and overall wonderful, but it could still cause sickness and disease if eaten poorly.

"Wow Jou, you certainly have an excellent nose when it comes to food." Ryou commented after they had found a secluded bench away from the mainstream of people and began to eat.

"Of course." Jounouchi said arrogantly and snuffed the tip of his nose with a thumb. "Oh, hey Ryn, why did you want to check out the smithy?"

Ryn stopped eating her apple and sighed. "I'm low on arrows. I was hoping they would have a nice quality of steel. I was going to by myself a quiver."

"Don't those get expensive though? You should just buy a blade."

Ryn snorted. "I prefer to not have to wipe the blood of my enemies off my being." then she cast a sidelong glance at Ryou. "Usually I collect my used arrows from the bodies. It's... less expensive."

"It sounds like you two do some dangerous work." Ryou said from under his hood as he finished off his roll.

Both Ryn and Jou nodded. "Indeed." Ryn answered in her dead tone.

"It's all for a greater purpose." Jou said, answering an unasked question that was written on the brown eyed man's face.

"Well," Ryou said and stood from his spot. "I believe we should head to the blacksmith and then the herbalist! The day is still young!"

oOo

Seto leered around the crowded courtroom. They were having some pointless party to make up for not greeting him in the middle of the night upon his arrival, and honestly he was quite bored. He was hoping that perhaps Ryou would've been there as well. As overly normal and kind the small white haired man was, he was always a good companion for an intellectual conversation. But it seemed that the small healer had shirked on his duties and scampered off to explore the city.

He picked up a goblet of wine from a table and swished its contents, a bored look on his face. Suddenly the room became dead quiet then just as suddenly burst into cheers.

'It would seem as if Bakura of Seth has just made his entrance.' Seto thought with a grimace and took a sip of the liquid. It wasn't that he didn't like the other High Priest... Well so maybe he didn't, but it wasn't because of something he could readily put his finger on. It may have been the fact that the guy was an utter mental case, or perhaps that whenever he was near you had the sudden urge to get as far away as possible. But whatever it was, it rubbed Seto the wrong way.

So you can imagine his displeasure when the other approached him, devious smirk planted on his face. "Well well well, if it isn't the almighty Kaiba Seto. Still lapdog to Ra I see. Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you would have attended the Selection to Ra if I had been Closed Off, fool." Seto replied in his usual arrogant tone. Seto watched as sharp brown eyes scanned the room like those of a hawk.

"Where is Ryou?" he asked, completely ignoring Seto's previous insults. "Am I early or something?"

Seto snorted. "He was the first to arrive, yesterday morning actually. It seems he is the smarter of us for he took off into the city today." he rubbed his temples trying to ward off the oncoming headache.

Bakura sighed. "So the little mouse escapes the cats claws once more. That sneaky bastard." Seto raised a brow but decided not to question the other man. He feared the answer would not bode him well. "I say we ditch." Bakura said suddenly, absently scratching at his facial scar.

"What do you mean _we_?"

"We as in me and you. Geez, I thought you were some kind of genius or something." Bakura said, agitation clearly showing.

Seto, equally agitated, replied, "I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you."

"But think about it! It'd get you away from all these... people, and if anything just _happened _to disappear, then I could just say I was with you the whole time. No one would question me after that."

Seto weighed his options. He could either stand here and watch his life waste away with these simpletons, or he could possibly risk his life or sanity with the man in front of him while the other most likely stole everything he could possibly touch and force the brunet to talk about random and unpleasant things. He watched a few of the party goers dance horribly and begin to shout nonsense in their joy and alcohol drunken states. A woman who seemed to be in her mid thirties flipped up her ruffled skirt and whooped loudly and a few cat calls she received. Seto thought he would be sick.

"Fine. Lets go." he said and almost cringed, knowing what was going to happen next. Bakura tilted his head back and began to laugh manically, baring his teeth and stretching his scar into a frightening position. Seto wasted no time in grabbing the other by the arm and dragging him forcefully out of the room. "Will you just shut up?" he hissed once they were away from prying eyes and ears.

"Desperate is the first word that comes to mind." Bakura said as they began to walk the halls, Seto trying to remain as far away as possible without being overly obvious.

Seto glared. "You need not to describe yourself to me." he said icily. 

Bakura's face contorted into confusion until it dawned on him what Seto had meant. "Hn. Whatever." they came across a small table with china and silver vases on display. Bakura took a quick sweep of the room for witnesses before he began to chant. In an eerie green light the objects disappeared and Bakura started to walk on, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"You have a problem." Seto pointed out as they stopped for Bakura once again.

"I ain't got a problem. It's everyone else that's got a problem with me." he said and began to continue onwards.

"Stealing is unethical." 

"So? Being a self absorbed bastard should be unethical too."

"No one said it wasn't." Seto said and glared at nothing in particular. He was pissed that he'd brought the conversation in this direction.

Bakura smirked. "Well it seems you're getting away with it just fine. It inspires me to continue my unethical ways as well." Once again Seto began to rub at his temples. "You know... I've always wondered. Why are you still High Priest after all these years? Don't you ever get tired of acting like you have a tree shoved up your ass all the time?"

Seto redirected his glare to the white haired man. "And what do you propose I do? Beg Ra to Close Off to me? I don't think so."

"Quit."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Quit. Be a man for once. Tell Ra to just--" Bakura stopped talking and his eyes glazed over for a short amount of time before he continued. "Ah, well you know what? Forget what I was going to say. Was I even saying anything in the first place? No I don't think I was, so lets just forget this whole thing."

"So whose the lapdog?" Seto asked with an amused smirk.

"Shut up. I'm bored, so I'm going back to that party. I need to exercise my pick pocket talent for a while." Without another word, the psychotic brown eyed man left Seto alone. Not that Seto cared really. He went back to his arranged room and laid down. He needed to sleep off the headache that had taken him. Too bad he couldn't just sleep off Bakura.

oOo

"The sun is beginning to bleed." Jou and Ryou looked up from the plants they were examining to see what Ryn was talking about. The sun was starting to sit low on the horizon, bathing the sky in a deep red color.

"Oh my, she's right! We best hurry back. Who knows what would happen if I were late."

Jounouchi grinned and helped Ryou quickly pick out everything he wanted to buy and they made their way out of the shop. They traveled down the busy streets quickly.

"I can't wait to meet the new High Priest." Ryou said as they entered the castle. "Rosette was such a wonderful woman, I hope the new one will be also."

"Do you actually know the other High Priests, like on a personal level?" Jou asked as they headed to the ballroom where the Selection would take place.

"In a way. We have many events and such that all of us must attend, and usually we only talk to each other. Everyone else just seem to... throw themselves at us."

"Must be torture." Jou said with a grimace as Ryn nodded.

"Not really. The other High Priests aren't so bad. Kaiba is pretty strict, but he's very smart. And... A-and Bakura is... different." Ryou began to stutter. A few strange emotions seemed to start a battle in the pit of his stomach.

Ryn gave him a strange, almost _knowing,_ look before turning her attention back in front of her. "We're here." she said, pulling the other two's attention to the large doors in front of them.

Ryou tugged nervously at the hem of his light gray healer robes. "Okay, let's go then." he said, but made no move towards the door. So Ryn opened it instead.

The sounds of music and chatter assaulted the trio. Jou could make out the sound of flutes and harps playing sweetly above the not-so-dull roar of the crowd, most being potential candidates for the position of High Priest.

"Too many people." Ryn commented as they walked inside the room.

"There are many people whom have green eyes and can qualify as a High Priest." Ryou pointed out. Jou just nodded along as Ryn and Ryou talked more about the people and music. He felt extremely out of place. 

"There you are Honored Guests!" Jou turned around to find the King himself along with Kaiba and another white haired man that looked strangely like Ryou.

"Hello." Jou said and gave a small bow. He saw Seto smirk from the corner of his eye.

The King smiled and seemed to bounce on his heels to the music. "The Selection will start as soon as the High Priests take their places." he said, smile never leaving his face.

Ryou stopped talking and moved towards his fellow High Priests. "Shall we go then?" the other two nodded and they left, leaving Jou and Ryn with the obviously drunken King. 

Ryn stood stock still behind Jou. He sighed and smiled at the man. "Are you excited Milord?" he asked lamely.

The King gave a hearty laugh before turning to the center of the room and shouting: "Let the Selection begin!" he made a strange gesture with his hands and a small girl, probably around seven or eight, walked to the center of the ballroom and stood next to the three High Priests. The girl was wearing a simple white dress and had her yellow blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. She was devoid of all jewelery and color, a simple white maiden. "The one who tells me the name of this girl is to be the next High Priest of Ihy, the lord of the cheerful music of the world."

The crowd cheered and one by one people moved towards the girl and would guess her name. Jou watched with amusement as one by one men and women alike all guessed wrong and were escorted to the door.

"Paola?" a man asked. Jounouchi chuckled as the man was brought to the exit and basically thrown out.

"Kadence?"

"Ediah?" Jou yawned. They'd been at this for at least two hours now. He was getting extremely bored and he could see that he wasn't the only one. The High Priest of Seth -Jou had yet to learn his name- was actually sleeping on his feet, Ryou's constant pleasant smile started to droop at the corners and Kaiba had started to tap his foot in impatience. 

A slim man with long black hair held up in a ponytail at the back of his head stepped up to the small girl. His bright green eyes bored into the girl then seemed to mist over. As the guards were about to remove him he said in a slightly girlish voice. "You are Adanne. Second daughter of the King and Queen."

The girl broke out into a smile that was all too familiar to Jou. "Yes. Yes I am!" she said in a tiny voice and curtsied gracefully. "And you are good sir?"

"Ryuuji Otogi."

Soon the entire room was filled with whispers and gasps. That small girl was a hidden princess? And the most famous entrepreneur in the Kingdom was now the High Priest? Ryn nudged him in the side. Everything had gone smoothly, nonetheless boring, but smoothly. Their job was done.

Otogi was escorted to a different section of the castle to become accustomed with the lifestyle of a High Priest as Ihy explained to him what would happen from then on in.

"Alright, lets get outta here." Jou whispered to Ryn.

"Oh, and just where are you going?" both Jou and Ryn whipped around at the unexpected voice, hands on their weapons. Seto raised an amused brow at the two. "Someone still has a promise to keep."

Jou shifted nervously. "Yeah. I-I know." he looked to Ryn for help.

Almost as if reading his mind, Ryn sighed and moved a brown lock of hair from her face. "Fine. You may accompany us. We are traveling to the Temple of the Four."

Seto didn't even acknowledge Ryn and instead turned to Jou. "Well?"

"Geez, didn't ya hear Ryn? You're such a prick!" Jou said and started for the exit.

Seto glared at the dark girl. She didn't even flinch under his scrutinizing gaze. The girl seemed to be some kind of emotionless doll of sorts. Honestly she unnerved Seto. Finally he nodded at her and they proceeded to follow Jou.

"Do we travel by foot then?" he asked after they all had gathered their equipment from their respective rooms.

"Yes." Ryn said flatly.

"We were going to teleport, but Ryn can't carry more than one person." Jou said with an unbothered shrug.

Seto cleared his throat arrogantly. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

"Un... Kaiba Seto?" Jou supplied dumbly.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I can teleport all of us at once. The Temple of the Four isn't far from here."

It looked as if Ryn didn't believe him as she began to walk calculating circles around the brunet, seeming to sum him up. She stopped and faced Seto. "Alright. Let's go."

Jou let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Are you sure Ryn? I mean.. won't Ihy be... busy or something?"

"This does not concern Ihy."

Seto raised a questioning brow, but when neither answered his silent question he held out his hands almost reluctantly for the two to take. When they did he held onto Jou's tighter than necessary and held Ryn's loosely, he could care less if the freakish doll wound up somewhere she shouldn't be. He concentrated on the Temple of the Four and began to chant the incantation of teleportation.

Jou closed his eyes and waited. He really disliked teleportation and _really_ would've preferred to walk. But no. The brunet just had to go and show off. Now he was going to have to show his weakness. Soon the familiar distortion of senses and the nausea hit him full force. The second his feet touched ground again he dropped the others hand in favor of running to the side and heaving.

"Damn. I _hate _teleporting." Jou said weakly and spit on the ground. He stood back up on shaky knees. And refused to look at the other two in his party.

Seto swayed slightly before righting himself. "Why exactly are we here?"

"To report our success." Ryn said simply and grabbed Jou by the arm to drag him into the large stone building in front of them. Seto followed, slightly unsure of himself, but he didn't show it.

"_My herald!" _Seto stopped at the entrance of the building. 

"What?"

"_Whatever you see or hear in this building today, you must never speak of to anyone besides those present. Do you understand?"_

Seto blinked. What could be so important in that building? He'd been in there many times before in the past. "Yes. I understand." he said and quickly caught up with the other two. The temple was basically one large stone room with intricate carvings over every surface to show appreciation to the gods. There were massive windows that let in even the moonlight. In the center of the room was a large tree. It appeared one day in recent years, but it was so beautiful and most believed it was a gift from the Four that no one had the heart to remove it.

Jounouchi walked up to said tree and ran his gloved hand along its bark. "Hi mom." he said and smiled sadly. "It's been awhile I'm sorry. I plan to visit Shizuka sometime soon. I'll tell her that you're doing fine."

"Mutt, are you talking to a _tree_?" Seto said, obviously confused. Before Jou could say anything, the moonlit room began to glow and four glowing figures surrounded the trio. They took on the shapes of humans starting from the foot and went up to the head. Just when Seto thought it was strange enough, the figures took on a corporeal form. Three men and a child.

Ryn and Jou immediately dropped to their knees, but Seto refused. He had no idea who these people were and there was no way he would bow to them. He glanced around at the four strange people. Two of them looked frighteningly similar. They were both rather short, but had defined muscles and soft faces. That's where the similarities ended, one was very tanned while the other had milky white skin. The tanned one had short, flaming red hair and mischievous golden eyes, while the other had long, pale yellow hair and silver eyes. Both wore strange smirks on their faces.

The child had a finger in his mouth and his black hair was cropped on one side while the other side was left to grow and be tied into a ponytail. His bright green eyes shined with amusement as he smiled.

Finally, Seto looked to the tallest person and was taken aback. The man looked nearly exactly like _him._ The only differences being the other was tanned and he seemed less... cold than Seto was.

The one with flaming hair laughed, a laugh Seto found to be very familiar. "Stubborn as always are we my herald?" Seto's eyes widened and he quickly dropped down on his knee to the man.

"Ra..." he muttered. "Never did I imagine myself _meeting_ you." he said sarcastically.

Again the man laughed, this time he was joined by his look alike. "You never did have much imagination. I forgive you." Seto rolled his eyes at the ground. "You may all stand." Seto wasted no time rising from the undermining position.

"What do you have to report serfs?" the silvered haired man said.

Ryn inclined her head before she spoke. "We bring news of success." she stated flatly.

"You don't seem very happy about that." Seto guessed the man was Yah, brother of Ra -due to the similarities-, said and stepped forward, breaking the circle, to poke Ryn in the cheek. The only reaction Ryn made was a facial twitch of annoyance.

"Golden serf, it is wonderful to see you again." the man who looked like Seto said, approaching Jou with his arms open. 

Jou made no move to embrace the man. Instead he inclined his head, "And you too Seth."

This response didn't seem to please Seth as he frowned and cupped Jou's face in his hands before dropping them and stepping back. A strange emotion made its way into Seto's stomach and settled there uneasily.

"If you have nothing further to say, then we shall go now." Ra said, his voice stern. Something Seto wasn't used to hearing unless the sun god was angry.

"That is all." Ryn said and both she and Jou bowed as the gods disappeared much faster then they had appeared. Jou let out a huge sigh of relief and moved to sit underneath the grand tree. "Seth seems to be getting too comfortable with you." Ryn said quietly.

"You're telling me." Jou said and hit his head against the tree.

Seto rubbed his temples and sighed in frustration. "This is all so confusing."

Ryn snorted and Jou grinned. "If ya like, I could explain it to ya. It ties in with yer question to my eyes. Ryn's too actually."

Seto and Ryn blinked. "You can't be serious." Ryn said, sounding slightly exasperated. 

"A promise is a promise." Jou said with a shrug. Ryn stared at him for a moment before turning abruptly away and moved further into the temple to a statue that Seto had never really noticed before. It was a statue of an elf man and a human woman hands both clasped in what appeared to be prayer. People would say that it represented the friendship and common interests of all races. Ryn sat at the feet of the elf man. "This is a long story, so ya might wanna sit down and prepare yourself." Seto nodded and sat next to Jou underneath the tree.

"This is a story told by one and heard by few." Ryn said cryptically from the statues foot.

"Well, it all started before I was born..."

**-Begin Story Sequence- **(1)

A tall man with striking blond hair stood with a tall thin woman with dark rusty hair at the edge of an ancient forest.

"You are so beautiful." he whispered into her ear.

The woman blushed and vigorously shook her head. "No. We can't and you know it." she whispered just as quietly.

"It's alright. I can still love you, without breaking the ancient forbidden law." The woman looked at him still unsure. He pulled a small pouch from his pocket and held it out to her. "This powder is a specialty of the people from my village. It has special healing effects and... if you place some on the forehead of a maiden, then it is a way of showing one's love without... breaking the ancient forbidden law."

The woman smiled and held the pouch to her chest. "Then you'll...?" the man smiled and put his finger in the pouch, drawing out some of the red powder and smeared it slightly on the womans head. There was a rustling nearby in the forest. "I must go now." the woman said. "I'll be here tomorrow." Quickly she sprinted into the forest and disappeared among the trees.

"As will I my love, as will I." the man said to himself, his charming smile becoming sinister.

For weeks the man met the woman in the same spot each day. And each day he would spread his sign of love upon the womans forehead. Until one day he was able to convince the woman to take a walk with him away from the forests edge.

"Can we go back now?" the woman asked, slightly nervous. She had never been this far away from the forest before.

"It's only a little further my love. I want to show this to you so very much." he gave her a charming smile and she relaxed. Finally the couple reached an empty crossroads with a wagon stationed at the center.

"Is... is this it?" the woman asked. 

The man just nodded and spread some of the red powder on her forehead once more. "Now you're mine." he said, evil smirk making its way onto his handsome features.

"What? No! You cannot!" the man grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly pushed her into the wagon. "Stop!" she cried out desperately. 

"No can do, my pretty little wood nymph. That powder stops you from returning to your spirit form. There is no way I can fuck a tree."

"No.. no...no!" the woman pleaded, tears falling down her perfect face as the man began to tear off her ragged clothes.

He just grinned at her pain and pressed his mouth to her to silence her. He would enjoy himself tonight.

(3 years later)

The rustic haired woman grasped the hand of her two year old son as she lead him through the forest that was their home. She loved the boy dearly, he was so pure, so innocent. But every time she laid her eyes upon him, she couldn't help but remember his father. He was the spitting image of his father. She was so relieved when the others had accepted what had happened to her, but she just could not accept what will happen to her son.

She refused to let Katsuya be killed because of her sin.

"Sis!" the young blond called and ran as fast as his chubby little legs would take him to a small sapling growing in the ground.

"Shizuka." little Katsuya looked up at his mom and smiled.

"I love Shizuka!" he exclaimed and patted the little sapling tenderly.

"And when she grows, I'm sure she will love you too." his mother said, a tear of loving joy escaping her eye.

(5 years later)

"Come child. We have a very important trip to make." a seven year old Katsuya looked up from his sapling sister -who had yet to mature out of spirit form- and smiled.

"Okay mom." he followed her through the forest, used to the winding paths of his home. "Mom where are you going?"

"Hush now, child. What must be done shall be just." she said softly and held her precious sons hand. She was very nervous at this point. She had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Mom, I don't understand. What is happening?" Katsuya prodded. She smiled. He was so nosy, but so innocent.

"Don't worry child. I will let nothing bad happen. But promise me one thing." she dropped to her knees and held her beautiful sin. "Whatever happens here, today, accept it with open arms. And remember that your mother loves you."

The young boy nodded, she knew he didn't fully understand, but he wouldn't forget her words. "Yes mom. I promise."

She smiled and stood back up to take Katsuya's hand. She traveled a path that wasn't unfamiliar to her.

As soon as he saw the temple he began to struggle. He may be young, but he was not stupid. "Mom? Mom! Why? I don't want this mom! No!" he had no idea how much those words stung her heart. "Mom please no! I want to stay with you! Please!" when she heard him crying she picked him up and began to soothe him.

"Don't worry. It will be alright I promise you. My sweet, sweet child. I will never truly leave you." she continued to carry him into the building before she set him down to call upon the gods. She used every fiber in her being to hide the tremor in her voice. "O, great Gods Four! I ask thee for thy presence! Judge this soul, but only for that of her sin! I ask thee! Come forth and be thine judge!"

She shielded her eyes as the room became unbearably bright. She faintly heard her son call for her as four figures surrounded her. Quickly she dropped to her knees when she realized what the figures were.

"_The sin is not yours." _a disembodied voice told her. _"The sin lies within the boy."_

"N-no! The sin is mine! My child is mine sin! The sin is mine!"

Her eyes went wide when a small child-like figure approached her and grasped her hands. _"Do not blame thyself, for there is naught."_

"Please! I ask thee! Do not harm him! For that child is my very soul!" she knew she was crying. She was afraid. What would happen to her son?

The figures gave her no response and moved towards her son, the room began to glow brighter.

"Katsuya!" she screamed and jumped towards the boy and pushed him away from the four figures. She felt as if she were being ripped apart, limb from limb. She began to wheeze as she felt _something _plunge into her chest and take... her very soul. Slowly she felt herself return to her spirit form, slowly taking deep root into the limestone floor and branches stretching high. So this was what it was like to die? At least she had protected her beautiful sin. Her son.

"Mommy!" she took one last glance at her son wishing that she could make those mocha brown eyes smile for her once more, before she finally returned to nature.

Katsuya fell to his knees and allowed tears and snot to run down his chubby face. The tallest figure stepped forward to him and extended its hand. He looked up and saw a faint green orb resting in the other's palm.

"_Guide it."_ the disembodied voice commanded. 

The golden boy blinked and said the only thing he could think of. "Go home." The orb brightened and floated towards him to tangle in his hair and disappear.

"_He's done it." _two figures said at once. They both approached the boy and placed one hand on each of his eyes. They began to chant in a language that Katsuya didn't know and suddenly his eyes burned and he cried out in pain as he scratched at his eyes violently.

"Ow! No! Not mine! Not mine!" he shouted incoherently as he continued to try and rip out his own eyes. But before he could do any damage he found his arms bound to his sides by an invisible source.

The child of the four figures came and knelt in front of the crying child. He refused to open his eyes. They didn't feel _right _anymore.

"_Serf, Golden Guide of Death, open your eyes."_ Slowly he opened one eye at a time and blinked. _"You guide lost souls now. It is your job. If you refuse, you lose the life your mother fought so hard to save."_

Katsuya sniffed loudly and nodded. "Okay." he said weakly, large tears still falling from his swirling golden eyes. The four figures approached him and everything went black.

**-End Story Sequence- **

"And after that I woke up and began my life over again. Nothing was the same after that. I had to learn to fight, communicate with humans, and to control my power." Jou finished with a sigh. Never again did he want to tell that story. Ever. It was too painful.

Kaiba looked at him with a mixture of awe and horror. "So... you're not human?"

"Yup. I'm only half human. One of the forbidden." he shrugged but on the inside he was screaming. He hoped that the other wouldn't hate him now.

"And her?" Kaiba asked and turned his oceanic gaze to Ryn.

"Her story is different than mine, but the ending is same. Her father was an elf, her mother a human. The statue she sits at are her parents as the tree is my mother. She was forced to become the Dark Defender of Life." he chanced a glance at the other only to make eye contact. He inhaled deeply before looking away. "So I bet you hate us now and want to run for all your life's worth. Am I right?"

Seto blinked. Why would he run from them as if they were monsters? If anything he should be bowing. They defied just about every law that was ever set by the gods and lived! He shook his head. "No. I do not." he looked out the window to see the rising sun. "But I must leave. Mokuba will be worried..." he stood and brushed off the seat of his robes. "I... thank you. For keeping your promise. Until we meet again." and with a flash of light he was gone.

Jounouchi blinked and smiled. They would meet again, and he would look forward to it.

**End Chapter Four.**

1) I didn't want Jou to just say it. Seemed really boring that way.

_A/N: Thanks to my beta, and review please. --Kuragari_


	6. Chapter 5: Where to Go?

After Kaiba had vanished, Jou looked to Ryn

_A/N: Sorry for the horribly long update. My computer fried! So I'm typing this from Danielle's (my beta/study hall chick) house computer... Enjoy!_

**Fable**

Chapter Five: Where to Go?

After Kaiba had vanished, Jou looked to Ryn.

"So I guess this is good-bye 'till next time, huh?"

"Yes." Ryn said and stood up. She looked up to the faces of the statues with a strange look on her face.

"Do you ever miss them?" he asked as he stood and played with a green waxy leaf between his fingers.

Ryn turned around, a slightly bewildered look on her face. "Of course not. I _hate _them."

Jou smiled. He could understand how she felt. "Yes, but at the same time… You can't help but to love them."

Ryn hesitated. "You're speaking nonsense. One cannot hate and love another at the same time." She stated matter-of-factly before using a teleportation spell to leave Jou standing alone in the center of the temple.

He sighed and patted the bark of this mother affectionately before walking out. He knew first hand that it was possible to both love and hate someone. Actually, one both loves and hates everyone they meet in life. It all depends on which emotion is felt greater at the moment of time. He knew he loved his mother, for everything that she had ever done for him as a child, but he knew he also hated her for bringing him into this cold unforgiving world. He knew he loved his friends also, for always being there for him, even though he was living a lie, yet he also spited them for everything they had and he didn't.

And then there was Kaiba Seto. Did he hate or love him? He couldn't tell. At first glance he seemed to be someone that he would hate without question; arrogant, cold and haughty. But Jou could feel himself growing used to the other, maybe even slightly attracted, like a butterfly to a blossoming flower.

"Ugh! Does it even matter?" Jou asked no one and yanked on his hair. Of course it does, something in the back of his mind said. He shook his golden mop of hair and started down a slightly worn path from his many travels in this direction. He looked up at the cloudless sky as he walked. He supposed it _did_ matter. Suppressing feelings wasn't healthy, just like Shizuka had told him many times before.

Jounouchi shook his head once more. It was just too confusing. Maybe he should ask Shizuka about it. She was an extremely smart girl. He was both proud she was his sister and ashamed of himself for being her brother. He wasn't worthy.

In his stupor Jou hadn't noticed that he had come to the edge of the ancient forest. He forgot how close it was to the temple. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he stepped into the forest and used his inherited senses from his mother to find and identify nymphs in their spirit forms.

He passed many nymphs on his search, some he knew and some he did not. Soon he found the very wood nymph he was searching for. He flung his arms around a tree and the branches moved around him in reply as they slowly took on a more familiar form of pale, slender arms, the trunk and roots becoming a thin torso and long legs with bare, narrow feet. Soon he was holding his beloved sister in his arms.

"Shizuka." Jou said with a smile and pulled the girl closer to his chest.

She giggled before squirming slightly, "Ow! Hey your armor is poking me!" she squealed giddily.

Jou laughed and put Shizuka at arms length to look her over, she had grown and he wasn't sure when he would be able to see her next. She had the same long rusty hair and the pale skin as their shared mother. Her eyes were a pale blue shade, misted over; unseeing. When Shizuka had first matured enough to take on a human form, she had found she was as sightful as a tree, if less so. When the others in their forest home had found out they blamed it on the impurity of her mother. When Jou had found this out he had defended both his sister and his mothers legacy viciously.

"Are you okay brother? You became really tense all of a sudden." Shizuka said and placed a coring hand on Jou's cheek.

Jou blinked and forced himself to relax as he smiled. "Yeah, I'm just havin' some weird thoughts is all."

"Relationship issues?" Shizuka asked, not missing a beat.

"H-huh?" Jou stuttered, "What makes you think that?"

"Your body is telling me that." She said with a shrug and began to pull Jou to her favorite sitting spot: a large moss covered rock next to a small babbling creek and wildflowers growing in every available space. Jounouchi sat against the rock as Shizuka perched on top of it. "Now tell me all about it." She commanded him lightly.

Jou sighed. His sister may be blind, but she could see everything. He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. "Well uh... There's this guy... he... really confuses me. I don't know what I'm supposed to think or feel about him." Jou explained haphazardly. Shizuka just nodded her pretty head and ran her fingers through the soft locks of Jou's hair. "Wanna help me figure it all out?"

Shizuka giggled. "Sure! Just answer my questions okay?"

"Alright."

"Is he friend or foe?"

"Umm... I'd say friend." Jou said with a scratch of his head.

"Is he kind or mean?"

Jou paused and looked up at Shizuka. What was she trying to get at? "I'm not sure. He acts all mean and stuff but sometimes outta nowhere he does some really nice things. It's strange."

"Then we will go with kind. Only kind people can show kindness with a cold face. Now... is he handsome or ugly?"

"Handsome!" Jou said without pause. "I mean Shizuka, even though he has the personality of an ice block, but he is gorgeous, with ocean blue eyes and wooden brown hair."

"Sounds as if someone has a crush." She said and lightly tapped the top of Jou's head.

Jou shook his head. "But... he looks... exactly like... _Seth_."

Shizuka's hand faltered in his hair. "How so?" she asked calmly.

"Well they have the same hair, same eyes, same _face_! It's like looking at both sides of one soul. It's freaky."

"Do... Do you have a preference? Light or dark?"

Jou stopped to think. Did he? If he had to choose between the two which would he pick, and based on what? Looks? Personality? He sighed. "I don't know sis. Every time I think about it I just get really confused."

"I thought so." Shizuka said and moved off the rock. "Stay here."

Jou nodded and leaned back onto the rock. He felt a gentle breeze weave its way through the trees and brush against his face. He really missed this place. It was so relaxing. The soft sound of his sister's footsteps brought him back to reality.

"Here. This is for you." Shizuka said and placed a necklace around the blonds' neck.

"What's this?" he asked and grabbed the dangling amulet to examine it further. It was a small clear mirror in the shape of a sun or moon, he couldn't tell.

"I foresaw your future." Shizuka said with an apologetic smile. She knew that Jou hated it when she looked into his future, only because he didn't want to know what lay ahead and he didn't want anyone else to see it either. "I saw that you were confused and so well... I got this for you. When the time is right this mirror will reflect your true feelings."

Jou looked at the amulet with amazement. "Just where exactly did you get this?"

Shizuka shifted nervously. "Well... I bought it from a human merchant..."

"Shizuka! What did I tell you about socializing with humans! What if something were to happen Shizuka? What would you do then?" he yelled angrily as he stood up and curled his fists.

Shizuka took an offensive stance and pointed an angry finger at Jou. "Just because mother made that mistake doesn't mean I will! I'm not _her_ Jou, stop acting like I am!" she yelled just as loud. Shizuka dropped her hands and face and let out a sob before running deep into the forest.

"But...!" Jou called after her, but gave up with a dejected sigh. "I don't want you to suffer like we did..." he said to no one in particular. Some of the trees swayed and cooed at him reaching out branches to comfort him. "'Scuse me ladies." He said while artfully dodging them. "I need to get a move on, but do me a favor and tell Shizuka I said bye and that mom's doin' well for me? Thanks!"

He ran quickly out of his once home before any of the others could protest. He stumbled along a random road of choice and gave a half hearted yawn. It seemed every time visited she left in tears. Why did he keep coming back to her just to torture her?

He loved her. She loved him in return, but they didn't seem to get along as well as most people would think.

His walk became more and more rugged and broken, his eyes glazing over and focusing on nothing.

He tried, he really did. But his past, who he was, what he was, made everything he did a near impossible task. He tripped over one of his own feet and fell to his knees. He felt too weak to stand back up. "Why...?" he choked out softly. Why did he try so hard? He punched the ground and got back up on steady legs. He tried because he had to, to live, to move on. He wasn't made of glass, he could do whatever he wanted with his life, the gods gave him this opportunity and he was going to take it.

He looked straight ahead of himself and held his head up just a little higher. He tried to ignore the fact that his feet felt heavier and his shoulders less proud, but he continued down the road anyway.

No one said it would be easy.

oOo

Seto sat in front of his pond in his private gardens, a frown etched onto his face.

When he had arrived home in the morning, he excused himself from his welcome home gathering –consisting of Mokuba, Atemu and a few select others- and came here. He had felt fidgety and worried for some reason. He had sat idly in his gardens, viewing the plant life for an hour trying to will himself to relax. When he couldn't calm down, he decided to check up on what was bothering him so much.

Jounouchi Katsuya.

He'd murmured the now familiar scrying spell and touched the waters surface. The images of the blond walking blankly down a dirt road spread forth from his fingertips. What he saw did not please him. The blond seemed... broken. A look that Seto wasn't used to seeing on the others usually happy features.

Soon the blond fell to his knees and stayed there. He made no attempt to move or right himself.

"What's he doing?" he asked the pond. It was so foreign, that emotion on the blond. What could have possibly caused it? The last ones the blond was with were Ryn and himself. "Was it me?" he whispered worriedly.

"_My herald, do not fret. He will be fine soon. He does this... often." _Ra said in what seemed to be a consoling voice, although it didn't really help.

Seto narrowed his eyes and continued to watch the blond on the ground. Suddenly the fallen teen punched the ground and stood up his head held high and his shoulders back, as if he were trying to prove something to the world. But Seto saw right through it, the mask that Jou hid behind.

"I don't like this." He mumbled to himself. He knew that Ra had heard because he hadn't felt the link close, but he received no reply from the fiery god. He would solve this riddle of Jounouchi Katsuya, and he would do it without a reason other than to help the other, he guessed he must have cared but at the moment that wasn't what was important. Solving the riddle was.

Over in a darker area of the garden two gray eyes flashed with a hint of joy. A familiar smirk crept its way across the boys face.

oOo

Atemu sighed and curled further into his bulky comforter. The sun peeked in through his window and flooding his room with its unwanted warmth and light. He grumbled and flung his covers across the room with a groan. Rubbing his eyes tiredly he got up and set himself to dress in the clothes that had been laid out for him by a servant earlier that morning. His routine was ingrained into him: systematic, predictable, unsatisfying. He never thought much of it. As he pulled on his final boot his door creaked open and Mokuba walked in holding a wooden tray of various foods.

"Good morning your Majesty!" Mokuba chirped and pushed the door closed with a bare foot. "I brought you breakfast."

Atemu blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again to say, "Mokuba...? Why? And where are your shoes?"

Mokuba gave an amused sigh and set the tray on the nightstand next to the king's bed. "It's been nice and warm lately, the stones in the castle have warmed up too, so I don't really need to wear them." He explained with a shrug and wriggled his bare toes. "But I came here for a really good reason."

"And that being?" Atemu said, once the initial shock wore off, as he sat on his bed and began to pop grapes from the tray into his mouth with an amused smile.

"Seto's special someone!" Mokuba said excitedly. "I have just about everything figured out, but I need your help with some fine details... eh, and some not-so-fine details. But still, it's so perfect!" he inhaled deeply before smiling slyly, "So what do you say? Are you going to help me? Or do I have to try and do this myself?"

Mokuba's grin widened as Atemu stopped chewing his food to stare curiously at his young cousin. He shook his head and swallowed his food. "All you have to do is ask..." he mumbled, almost uncertainly, before finishing his breakfast hurriedly.

Mokuba watched the king, picking his next few words carefully, "Hey Atemu?" Atemu gave a nod, indicating that he was listening. "You know what the Castle _really _needs?" he asked smoothly as he sat down next to Atemu.

"And what would that be?" the king responded, curious.

"A knight." Mokuba said as if it were obvious. "And not just your everyday knight, but one that has a history, is _famous._"

"And just what would we need a famous knight for? Is the Guard no sufficient enough?" Atemu stood and retrieved his crown and placed it on his head. The golden metal that encircled his forehead glittered in the morning sun, reflecting on the walls where the metal was engraved with images of eagles soaring through suns. He gave Mokuba a look that seemed to ask if he was going anywhere with the conversation.

"Oh, the Guard is wonderful, for in town jokes. You can't send Guards to do work over borders and they are only reliable to catch pickpockets and watch your chamber doors. You need someone that you can send over borders, to represent you, investigate, save damsels!" Mokuba flailed his arms momentarily before he caught himself and put his arms neatly at his sides.

Atemu chuckled and ruffled the boys' hair. "And I suppose you have a certain knight in mind?"

Mokuba grinned wolfishly. "Of course."

oOo

Seto knelt in front of the marble alter of Ra. He had returned to his daily routine after he had watched the blond awhile longer. As he was about to begin to recite the prayers of gratitude he found his mind wandering. Was he really just worshipping a man? Someone that could just be anyone with telepathy? Were the Four really _Gods_? Why had he never questioned his faith before? He rose without uttering a single word of praise and wandered out of the Cathedral and onto the palace grounds. Just what was happening to the world? He could feel something coming but he couldn't for the life of him, figure out what it was.

"Setoooo!" the brunet paused the pacing he hadn't realized he'd begun. "Big brother I have something for you!"

Seto turned to see his brother running to him waving a paper in the air. His eye twitched in irritation when he saw his younger brother was barefoot.

"Why aren't you wearing your shoes?" Seto demanded when the shorter reached him.

Mokuba pouted. "Why does everyone care if I wear shoes or not? It's nice outside."

"And if you cut your feet?"

"Then I cut my feet. Here this is from Atemu."

Seto took the folded paper from his brother with an annoyed glance. He broke the royal seal and read over Atemu's sloppy handwriting.

"What's it say?" Mokuba asked and tried to sneak peeks at the letter.

"That I am to find the knight... Jounouchi Katsuya..." Seto trailed off and re-read the section again, to make sure his tired mind wasn't playing tricks on him. "I am to find him and offer him to become a royal knight of Domino...? Just what is Atemu _thinking_?"

"Of you." Mokuba said seriously.

"What?"

"Well just think about it. A knight will take over many of your border crossing duties and that would give you more breaks to stay home more often with me."

Seto blinked and read the letter again. It didn't sound like such a bad idea. "But why _him_."

"He's famous! If Atemu had someone as famous as Jounouchi Katsuya that would mean more power to the Kingdom!" Mokuba said with a grin.

Seto gave a small smile to his younger brother. "I see you've been working hard to become Atemu's aid." He said softly.

"I sure have! Atemu says if I do well enough he may give the crown to me –provided he doesn't have any children, of course."

Seto nodded. He took the letter and tucked it into the breast of his priestly tunic. "Tell the king I'll do as he requests... tomorrow, at dawn."

Mokuba nodded in understanding. "You must be really tired. You should eat and get some sleep, okay? I have to get to my studies now, so I'll see you when you get back home."

Seto ruffled the boys' hair and nodded. He watched Mokuba run off and cringed as the younger almost stepped on a sharp, broken stick. "He really needs to start wearing shoes." He muttered to himself as he made his way to his own bed chambers.

He crawled between the soft silks of his much too large bed and allowed his eyes to shut in the first time in two days.

Seto knew the difference between a dream and reality, but when a dream touched on the subject of reality...

He was walking behind the blond on an unused dirt path. The others steps were slow and forced as if he didn't really want to continue any further, but as if something was out there to move him forward. Seto easily caught up with him. He placed a tentative hand on the blonds shoulder. The shorter stopped walking and turned around to meet Seto's gaze.

"Jou...nouchi?" he gasped out. The blond only blinked in recognition, his usual unnatural golden eyes seemed hollow and dark, looking almost read in the unfamiliar light.

"Where?" Jou mumbled and looked to the ground. "Where does someone like me go?"

Seto could feel himself smile and he pulled the confused blond into his arms. "Come with me." He heard himself say.

"With you? Why Kaiba? You don't even like me!"

"Yes I do. I just..." he looked to the side and sighed heavily. Instead of finishing his sentence he leaned down and pressed his lips to the others. He watched as those golden orbs sparked back to life and suddenly he was sitting in his bed once again.

He sat up quickly and panted. A cold sweat had formed on his chest and arms making him feel uncomfortable. He closed his eyes and tried to recall his strangely realistic dream. He could feel his own uncertainty at the time, how it had turned into reassurance. He could recall the texture of the blond's lips against his own, how _good_ it had felt.

He shucked off his blankets with a sigh and stood in front of his window to try and dry his clothes. "It will be dawn soon..." he murmured to himself. With one last breath of fresh air he set himself to tracking Jounouchi Katsuya.

oOo

Jou treaded carefully down an unfamiliar path. Last night he had slept heavily under a great oak tree, and he felt better – even though he had woken way before the sun – and nothing could possibly bring down at the moment.

The stars and pale moon lit his lonely path. Out of sheer boredom he began to hum a tune that his mother had taught him as a child.

"Serf..." Jou stopped and looked around, he recognized the voice as Seth, but it sounded so pained, almost desperate.

"Seth?" he called out, confused. The answer he received was Seth walking towards him in his corporeal form from the forest. "Seth?!" he gasped, more than a little surprised. "What's going on?"

Seth paused in his steps, grasping his right arm. "Serf... Jou." Suddenly the God smiled and walked up to Jou, his dark skin gleaming softly in the moonlight. "I missed you." He breathed.

Jou blinked as his eyes went wide, "Well, I guess I missed you too?"

Seth shook his head and laughed quietly. He raised the hand of his –what looked to be injured- arm and brushed Jou's lips. "No, I really missed you. You always leave me. We should be together. Always."

Jou stood in motionless shock. Seth leaned down and pressed his lips to the confused blonds'. Jou reeled at the sensations the simple touch brought. It was tender and caring, and Jou felt as if he had been thrown in an ice cold lake.

As Seth leaned out of the kiss, Jou took a few steps backwards. "Wha?"

"Jou... Come with me. I... I love you. I saw you grow up. Fell in love with what you had become. I truly love you." He held his hand out slightly, palm up, waiting for the blond to take it.

"No..." Jou said weakly and shook his head.

"Jou, where else do you have to go?"

"I... I don't know! Just no!" he pushed the startled god's hand away and ran away as fast as his feet would take him. He wished with all his might that Seth would not follow him. He didn't think he'd be able to resist him again in his confused state.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been running, but he didn't dare stop until the sun had risen, sending ribbons of colors across the skies. After he was more than out of breath he finally gave to a slow trudge.

So all along Seth had loved him. That would explain the strange looks, the touches, the use of his given name. He felt as if everything he had once known as the truth was now a lie and he was now stuck knowing nothing at all. He was at his lowest low and he couldn't get back up.

"Why?" he whispered desperately, but the wind stole his plea and carried it away. He didn't know why but he wished that Yugi was here. So he could ask him to take him far away to hide and regain control of himself. He saw a bright light flash in the corner of his eyes, his mind screamed at him to take a defensive stance, that this was _not _Yugi coming to him just as he had pleaded to himself, but probably some blood thirsty murderer, but his body continued to trudge away from all his problems while his heart told the stranger to end his misery once and for all.

He felt someone carefully place and hand on his shoulder. On impulse he stopped and turned to look at whoever had disturbed him. He watched familiar blue eyes widen.

"Jou...nouchi?"

Jou blinked. Was that really who he thought that was? Seto and not Seth? What was he doing here? He felt as if the others gaze was staring straight into his heart and he looked to the ground sullenly. "Where?" he forced his threatening tears to remain hidden. "Where does someone like me go?" he asked woefully.

When the brunet smiled at him, Jou was utterly confused and allowed the other to pull him into a warm embrace. The brunet hesitated momentarily, as if recalling something, then lightly said, "Come with me."

After a few brief moments he remembered how to move his jaw and form words. "With you? Why Kaiba? You don't even like me!"

"Yes I do. I just..." Jou swallowed hard as the pair of oceanic eyes he'd grown so attracted to left his face to gaze at the scenery. He knew that the brunet was fighting an eternal war just as he knew he would be doing very soon. Everything was so fast. Just hours ago Seth had announced his undying love for him and now here was Kaiba telling him... What? To go with him? Be with him?

For the second time that day he felt the familiar press of lips against his own. But instead of the cold comfort that Seth brought him, this was warm and felt almost... needy, desperate. His brain was trying to tell him to get away, he'd only be hurt again. His heart was telling him to lean in, it felt so _right_. But his body remained still, caught in the crossfire in the battle of mind and spirit.

When Seto pulled away he kept Jou in a loose embrace, he didn't want to force the other –as much as he'd liked to have- and never get another chance.

"Jou?" Jounouchi blinked and felt the streams of warm tears travel down his cold face. "You need time."

"Thank you for pointing that out Sir Obvious." He said, a hint of a smile crossing his face as he wiped away at his tears.

Seto blinked and smirked, "Someone had to tell you, else you'd never had figured it out."

Jou sighed and looked to the fluffy pink clouds of late morning. "Two days." He said slowly. "Just give me two days."

Seto nodded his head. "Two days." He turned and with a spell he was gone.

oOo

Ryn aimed a finely sharpened steel arrow at the resentful she had been hunting. Its soul was worthy of a second chance at life. As soon as she was sure her arrow would strike true she loosed it from her vantage point in the trees. The resentful received the sharpened metal straight between the eyes and fell to the ground with an ear splitting shriek. Ryn didn't allow the uncomfortable sound make her falter as she jumped from the tree limb and onto the muddy ground.

She crossed the gap to the body cautiously, prepared for more, and bent over its form when she reached it. Silently she closed the corpse's eyes and yanked out the arrow.

"It's useless..." she muttered as she inspected the weapon. The tip of the head had broken off in the targets skull. She tossed it aside carelessly.

When the lost soul approached her wearily she sent it away, to the body of an unborn child to be reborn once more, with the wave of a hand.

Ryn stood, hands on her hips, and surveyed her surroundings; middle of Drekkan, dead body with saved soul, no other threats, a job well done. She was about to report her success to Ra via mind link when she felt something terribly wrong. The links to Ra and Yah were both closed off and impossible to penetrate, while Seth's was severed completely. She decided the best way to get answers would be to ask Ihy.

As she sent her curiosity through the link, she felt another magical presence appear nearby in the dank swamp. The sound of a crying child running towards her resounded a few seconds later.

"R-Ryyyynnnn." A small child with cropped hair and bare feet sobbed as he came running towards her from within a spread of trees. "Ryn they won't stop!"

Ryn blinked in confusion as the child known as Ihy pulled her legs into a desperate hug. Ryn could think of nothing to say as she ran her fingers through his hair. She noticed that he mud refused to cling to his feet.

"Just ask Ryn! It'll be fine." He looked up into her face, his large green eyes watery with tears of fright.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she voiced her question uneasily, she hadn't asked a single one in over ten years, "W-who won't stop... what?" as she said those words she felt a strange sort of liberation fall over her, but before she could think more on it Ihy began his story with a small sob.

"It's Ra, Yah and Seth! They won't stop fighting! Seth said that he loved Jou and wanted to... _be _with him, I think, but Ra got angry, said Jou was like a son as you are a daughter, and that he had his own love for him... and you. And then they all fought! Ra and Yah hurt Seth! And... and he left the temple and said he would never come back!" slowly throughout his story Ihy broke down into tears. Ryn knelt down and held Ihy close until his cries subsided.

"It will be okay." She whispered monotonously.

"There will be war..." Ihy said in a distant voice. He blinked and stared into Ryn's eyes, a strange look on his face, before touching her cheek. "Your eyes... are gray."

Ryn gasped and looked around. She knew that something was different. For the first time since she was a child she felt as if she were looking through her own eyes. "I-I'm... free?"

**End Chapter Five**

_A/N: Don't expect another update soon, I don't think I'll get a new computer until May-ish... So until next time! Review! –-Kuragari_


	7. Chapter 6: Difficult Decisions

_A/N: I'm finally finished with the next chapter and this time it has gone through editing… Unlike last time. I apologize for last chapter._

(!) _Disclaimer- Kuragari doesn't own Y-G-O or the characters by any means. Kuragari does not make money from writing this fiction, nor will he ever. Suing this author is not permitted in any state, country, or local residential area. Too bad._

**Fable**

Chapter Six: Difficult Decisions

Jou sat haphazardly on a fallen trunk of a tree in an otherwise empty clearing. The afternoon sun beat down on his golden mop of hair, rings of sunshine reflecting off the golden strands. He was so confused. He'd already wasted one day finding this place of refuge and now he had until perhaps sundown, sunrise? He sat perfectly still, soaking the warmth of the sun, helping himself to relax.

"So what should I do?" he asked himself in frustration and scratched at his scalp violently in a stressful gesture. How the hell was he supposed to decide between two people who were essentially the same person? But were they really the same? He stopped stressing and took deep relaxing breaths. He needed some stable ground to work on. Get some control in this seemingly hopeless situation. He knew that the two were different; he just had to search for what made them separate. He began to list some differences in his exhausted mind.

He'd known Seth for most of his life, so he knew him pretty well—as well as you can know someone that doesn't really seem to be real. He was unpredictable and violent, but he was also kind and considerate to those he cared for. Jou rarely saw him without a smile on his face. There had only been one incident when the other was frowning, and that was when a mortal had dared betrayed his word, his smile had returned later as he was rending the innards of the offending mortal out for personal pleasure. Jou solemnly swore that day to never get on Seth's bad side.

But Seto, who he'd known for only a few weeks, he was cold. It seemed he got whatever he wanted using his sharp cunning and silver tongue instead of force. What surprised Jou the most about him was the others passion. He found that under that icy exterior was a warm fire of passion hidden in its depths, flaring to life when something that he cherished was threatened. Like when Seto had kissed him; did he know about Seth? Or did he just feel threatened? Thinking about it both frightened him and left him strangely satisfied.

"So it's a choice between kindness with cruelty or ice with a hint of warmth." With a heavy sigh he slid off the tree and sprawled out onto the ground. He had known since he was child that one day he'd want to have someone to call his own, his other half, but due to his tainted blood he'd never be able to have a woman as a lover. He could never risk having a child with his tainted blood and watch it be murdered in front of his very eyes.

Maybe he should just pick one at random. Did it really even matter which one he chose? Maybe he should stick with the familiars and just go with Seth? Or try something new and go with Seto? He had known Seth the longest and it would probably be the safer choice to make—

"Ow! Holy…!" he grabbed at his neck frantically and pulled on the chain to the amulet that was burning furiously at the skin on his chest, directly above his heart. As the circular mirror was exposed in the air, he watched the steam float off its smooth surfaces. He looked closer he saw colors swirl within the depths, armies lashed about dangerously, and Jou began to feel uncomfortable watching and attempted to look away only to find that he couldn't. He felt somehow drawn to the angry mesh of colors and he began to feel extremely sleepy. His eyes fell closed and he drifted off to sleep before he could protest the feeling.

He found himself standing by a small pond in a very unfamiliar flower garden. Standing in front of him was a very stoic looking Seto. He wondered briefly how he'd gotten here, but when Seto didn't see him he opted to stay silent and observe. He could tell that he wasn't really _here_, but just there somehow. How he'd known, he wasn't sure.

Finally Seto moved to rub his temples. "It's just two days." He mumbled to himself. He looked around his gardens, blotches of yellows and reds decorated most of the space, leaving room for little variety. "It could use more white lilies..." Jou had to stifle a laugh. Did Seto like white lilies too? Who could've guessed?

"Big brother!" A small boy with wild raven hair yelled cheerfully as he bounded up towards Seto. Jou was slightly shocked to find that Seto had a younger brother, but then again what would he know? He hardly knew the guy. The young boy smiled widely at Seto. "Seto we should go and do something fun! I don't have my usual studies today. Kanamiri fell ill this morning so I have the day off!"

Jou watched in silent amazement as Seto smiled and his brother bounced impatiently in a pair of thin sandals for an answer. "And what do you propose we do then?" Jou thought that the two brothers made a nice picture, both smiling carelessly, caught in such a beautiful moment. He could feel something deep inside him yearn to be a part of that picture, but he knew that if he tried he'd just destroy it with his taint.

The raven haired boy stopped bouncing to think. Suddenly he looked over his shoulder directly at Jou. Jounouchi felt extremely uncomfortable as the boy made eye contact with him but dropped the gaze as suddenly as he had started it to answer Seto's question. "We could—"

"Give up on the Golden One and return to your normal mortal lives?" said a low voice, thick with anger from the entrance of the lavish garden. Jou was just as surprised as the others to see Seth leaning against a vine covered pillar, if not more so.

Quickly Seto placed himself between his brother and Seth. "How did you get in here?" he growled.

"Don't underestimate me mortal. You believe that the Golden One will come to you. He is _mine_."

"Seto… What's going on?" the boy whispered. Jou had a sudden urge to help the young boy, to drive away anything that threatened him.

Seth didn't allow Seto an answer as he continued his speech that Jou had a feeling he'd planned out. He took a step further into the brothers' safe haven. "Ah, but my shadow, don't worry yourself about such trivial things. I'd make him much happier than you ever could. I know everything about him, all the way down to whom his parents are to his favorite food and least favorite sleeping conditions –and that happens to be on his stomach. And what do you _really _know? Nothing." The dark god seemed very pleased at Seto's silence, so he continued with his verbal assault. "You're just a slave to the ungrateful Ra. You are meant to live out your poor, pathetic, lonely life day by gruesome day until you end it yourself."

Jou felt his fists clench in anger and watched as Seto's did the same thing. Everything that Seth had thrown at him had been unfair and unjust, but it was perfect ammunition for a situation such as this. Suddenly the wild haired boy detached himself from the protection of his older brother's shadow to fling himself in front of Seto, arms spread and a look that could kill on his innocent face. "I don't who you are," he started, his small voice projecting and trembling in his anger, "but you've no right to say that to my brother! He'll never, ever be lonely. I made sure of it." He paused for a quick intake of breath. "I _saw_ the Golden One choose, and it is not in your favor." He said gravely, forelocks hiding his gray eyes. Everyone stood stock still after the revelation. Jou digested the information quickly and decided he would think on it later, but had to suppress a laugh when the boy stuck his tongue out at Seth in a childish way.

"Brat!" Seth growled a look that promised death distorting his normally handsome face. "Seers blood…" he raised a hand and Jou felt the power caress his skin. "Well little one I'll just _make_ it in my favor."

Seto began to struggle with the young boy, trying to forcefully coax him back into his protection. He did _not_ like the spell that the other was starting to cast and he would have tried to stop him now if he didn't feel that Mokuba was in any danger, and he was.

Jou began to pull at his hair. He didn't know what to do. There was nothing he _could _do and that was what pissed him off the most. Just standing here most likely invisible to the naked eye and probably couldn't be touched or heard anyway, _it pissed him off_. He knew the spell that Seth was going to cast, one of banishment. It was a spell he had never wanted to see or sense again. Before he realized it he felt himself shouting, "Seth STOP!"

To his surprise Seth _did _stop and looked around like a wild man.

"Seto, get the knight!" the boy pleaded to his brother quietly then wiggled free of his grasp. He ran to Seth and grabbed the arm he was concentrating the spell on and bit down as hard as he could while the god was still distracted.

With a surprised yelp the god reflexively brought his arm towards himself to capture the boy, but in the process he'd forgotten about his spell.

Both god and boy disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

Seto and Jounouchi stood in shocked silence, one unaware of the other. What would they do now?

Jou watched as Seto began to pace. He had heard the boy's plea to his brother and was willing to help in anyway he could. Is all Seto had to do was ask. And he had to find a way back to his body. But he didn't want to leave just yet. He wanted to see how Seto reacted in such a situation.

Seto seemed to think something over before walking to a small clear pond. He murmured a few words Jou didn't quite catch and he saw his own sleeping body in the clearing he had found earlier. Jou didn't know whether he should feel flattered or afraid of the thought that Seto had been watching him. Again Seto muttered something Jou couldn't hear and he disappeared himself.

Jou watched the pool as Seto appeared in the images. For a brief moment Jou panicked. He was still here doing whatever it was, while his body was left helpless in the middle of an open field. Seto leaned over his sleeping form and paused briefly to brush a strand of hair away from his face, causing Jou blush, before he shook his shoulders roughly.

Jou snapped back to consciousness with a start. He looked up to find ocean blue eyes staring into his own. So he hadn't just dreamed the whole thing. He kinda wished he had, then that little boy wouldn't have been caught up in all this.

"What happened?" he asked stupidly and rubbed his head in effort to clear his mind of its fog.

"I was about to ask you the same." Seto said and leaned back from Jou as he sat up completely. Seto then asked him something he didn't see coming at all. "Do you hate me?" his face was serious as he said this, leaving Jou slightly confused.

"Well… no." he said slowly and watched as Seto's stiff posture became lax. Jou sighed and reached up onto his chest to clutch the amulet that Shizuka had given him but faltered when he found it was no longer around his neck. "Where'd it go?" he asked, panicking slightly. He didn't want to lose something that Shizuka had given to him when she had to go through all that trouble just to get it.

"What is it?" Jou was surprised again at Seto's curiosity. Wasn't he worried about his little brother?

"It's… a necklace thing. Has an amulet that looks like a mirror and has a gold chain. It's supposed to be magical or something like that, but I don't care. Shizuka gave it to me so I _have _to find it." He began to rummage around the area that he had fallen unconscious.

He began to panic even more when he didn't find it right away. Seto stood and moved to a different part of the clearing before coming back a few moments later. "Is this it?"

Jou looked up to find himself looking at a blank mirror, his reflection refusing to show. "Yes!" he made to grab the necklace but Seto pulled it out of his reach. "Huh?"

"If you want this back, you have to do something for me."

Jou blinked. He had a fairly good idea where this was going, but he wasn't going to tell him that, Seto might think he was delusional or something. "What?"

Seto leaned a little closer to him, self assured smirk planted onto his face. "Help me find my brother Mokuba."

Jou chose to play stupid. "What happened to him? Did he run away or something?"

Seto stood to his full height, as did Jou. He was slightly nonplussed by the fact that Seto was taller than him by a couple of inches. "Do you know anything about the banishment realm?"

Jou blinked a few times before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I know a few things about it." He looked down as a few memories assaulted his mind. "I've been there myself." Before Seto could ask anything else he continued. "How did your brother get banished?"

Seto sighed, realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as he had first thought, and sat on the fallen tree Jou had used earlier. He began to recite the tale of what happened between Seth, Mokuba and himself. Even though Jou knew it detail for detail, it was interesting to hear Seto's point of view, what information he would leave out and if he added anything to the truth –which surprisingly he didn't.

"So both of them were banished together?" Jou asked quizzically. Seto nodded. "Well that's good."

"How the hell is that _good_?"

Jou understood Seto's temper, he would be edgy too if something had happened to Shizuka. "The banishment realm is basically a giant empty space of stark nothingness. You always feel cold even though you're not, you always feel hungry, but you never have to eat. Worst of all you are always lonely. That is the part that always gets everyone. You get all these negative feelings and there is virtually nothing you can do but to believe everything that you're feeling."

With every word that Jou fed him, Seto became more and more concerned for Mokuba. "So how do we get him out?" he demanded.

Jou sat down with a thump. "We don't do anything." Seto sent him a very angered glare so he explained himself. "The only way out of a banishment realm is by –I know this sounds cliché- facing one of your greatest fears."

"What was your fear?" Seto asked quietly. Almost too quietly.

Jou just sighed. "It was… Not finding a place in the world." He gave Seto a sidelong glance. "Because of well… you know."

Seto nodded and stood up. He seemed to be struggling to say something, but Jou decided he wouldn't have to say anything. "I'll go with you." Jou said, very unsure of himself. "I mean I'll stay with you until Mokuba returns and stuff…"

Seto, for the briefest moment, couldn't believe his ears. Instinctively he reached out a hand and took Jou's. "Then let's go home."

oOo

Ryn ran fast and hard. She had to find Jou and she had the least notion as to where he could be. The beginnings of a town sprang up before her. She kept her pace in a vain attempt to reach a place she didn't even know where. She passed people in blurs, some moving aside and others shouting in outrage.

"Young lady, stop right now!" A large woman had bellowed at her. Ryn turned around to jog backwards and flash a rude gesture at the woman before turning back around only to fall over someone who was half her size.

Ryn landed hard on her hands but was able to keep herself from smashing the child that was now underneath her. "Forgive me." She panted, still breathing hard from her exertion.

"No it's alright." The young boy said, his hood slipping off his head. "I should've been paying more attention."

Ryn stared as spiky tri-colored hair and a small childish face was revealed. She recognized the faerie almost instantly. "You're one of Jounouchi's friends!" she breathed, uncontained happiness leaking from her breathy words. "You _must _know where Jounouchi is!"

The small boy seemed to shy away from her. "I uh, I can't really say. I-I mean I'm on a mission you see, and…"

Ryn grabbed him by the collar of his wool cloak and brought her face into his. "Forget your stupid faerie mission!" she spat angrily. It seemed as if the boy was going to cry at any moment. Ryn sighed. "This… This is bigger than you, than me; bigger than the whole entirety of the faerie and elf races! You have to understand little one, I _need _to find Jounouchi."

The boy visibly gulped and nodded. "Come with me." He said in a shaky voice. Ryn stood and helped him up as well. With a quick glance behind him he made sure that she was following and began weaving his way in and out of people, seeming to head in one direction then changing his mind to go in another. He maneuvered his way all the way to the other side of town. He stopped next to a small rundown shack and slipped inside, leaving the door open slightly for Ryn.

Ryn stepped inside and secured the door behind her. She was very careful. She knew that any friend of Jou's was probably dangerous in his or her own way, and now she didn't have the protection of the public.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded as he took off his cloak, still appearing to human eyes as one of their kind, but if Ryn looked hard enough she could see the faint sparkle of wings behind him.

"I'm Ryn. Partner of Jounouchi, the Golden One."

"The Golden One?" the boy asked slowly, confused.

Ryn was shocked that a friend of Jou's didn't know about his alter name but she shook her head and said nothing more about it. "I need to find him. But… who are you?" as she asked, she felt giddy over her new freedom.

"I-I'm Yugi." He said timidly. "Um Ryn… earlier, when we were outside, you said something about it being bigger than both the faerie and elf races. I mean… What I'm trying to say is… is, are you an elf?" he said quickly, fear outlining his small speech.

"And if I was?" again she suppressed the feeling of glee.

"Then I would not be able to take you to Jou." Yugi said defiantly. Ryn blinked. She knew that there was some bad blood between the Elves and Faeries, but she had no idea exactly how bad it was.

"Do not worry. I am only half of what you hate so dearly." She said smoothly, folding her arms across her chest looking very smug.

"O-only half?" Yugi squeaked shrinking back a bit as the woman in front of him seemed to transform into another person entirely.

"Yes little one. I am half of an elf." She smiled viciously at the look on Yugi's face. "My father was a tyrant of an elf. He enjoyed killing others for pleasure, whether it be with magic or arrows. My mother on the other hand, she was a priestess at a small chapel on the edge of a forest. She was completely human. How they met and fell and love I don't care. Is all I know is that they had two children together. Myself and my twin brother. I watched as all three of them were slaughtered. I _enjoyed _watching it. They each deserved it. The gods preserved the faces of my father and mother in their temple to warn other races of their folly."

"B-but what about you!" Yugi shrieked, hearing more than he had ever wanted. "You should've been killed too!"

"Yes, you're right. I still resent that fact." She gave Yugi a sharp look then softened her face, he was but a child! "I became their servant." She said tenderly. "I wasted away doing their bidding under bonds naked to the eye." She turned back to Yugi and smiled softly. "But now I am free and I bring terrible news. Jounouchi is the only other… person who can make sense of anything I have to say."

Yugi stared at her with fright, somehow he managed to swallow his fear and step closer to Ryn. "And how do I know you're not lying?"

Ryn laughed, a very hallow sound to Yugi's ears. "I could slit my wrists right here little one and show you I bleed black. The taint of my family still runs through my veins."

"Y-you don't have to…" Yugi murmured.

"Then I won't. But I need you to take me to Jounouchi."

Yugi looked up into Ryn's dark gray eyes. She looked so sad even though she was putting up a tough front. It was the same thing that Jou did whenever he was in some kind of trouble. Yugi felt bad for accusing her of lying. "I'll take you." He said at long last.

Ryn released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Then let us go."

Yugi nodded and allowed his hidden wings to unfurl themselves. He reached out for Ryn's hand and took it with confidence; he concentrated on Jou's location but gasped at the distance. "Ryn!" he exclaimed and let go of her hand. "He's very far away. I've never traveled that far. It would take me about… four different transports to reach him. And that would take days."

"That is alright." She said and grasped his small hand in hers once more. "I'll help you. We can cut the time down by half." She gave him a small smile.

"I forgot you knew magic…" he said with a small ashamed chuckle.

"I never told you." Ryn closed her eyes and concentrated on going to wherever Yugi chose. This trip would be a difficult one to make, but it had to be done. When she felt the distortion of her senses she willed herself to relax and move with the magic, a technique that Jou had yet to learn, and then they were gone.

oOo

It was so cold. He didn't have any idea where he was, but he was afraid. He refused to open his eyes to see where this frightening place was.

"Wake up small one." A soft voice said beside him. Mokuba couldn't feel the heat of the others body even though the voice sounded so close. "You must open your eyes."

Slowly Mokuba opened his eyes one at a time to be greeted with darkness. A lot of darkness. He looked over to see the person that had spoken to him earlier perfectly even in the stark darkness. "S-Seto?!" he squawked, momentarily confused by looks.

"Seth." The god corrected. He looked away from Mokuba and sighed. "Are you alright?"

Mokuba blinked a few times. "Uh… yeah. I think so."

Seth ran his hand through his hair. "I... apologize. For bringing you –a child– to such a horrible place."

Mokuba shrugged. "This is the banishment realm right? I've read about it before, it doesn't seem as bad as they make it sound in books."

Seth let out a harsh laugh. "It is much worse then in books. You don't have to act brave small one."

Mokuba puffed out his chest. "I _am _brave! I saw everything that happened back there and I knew that I would be sent here if I tried to stop you. I wasn't scared at all."

"So instead of using your prophesies to an advantage you went through with it?" Seth asked surprised.

"Yes… I had been having nightmares about it for weeks." He admitted. "Anansi kept me company though. She helped me sort out my feelings about it all." He paused and looked at the dark god curiously. "Do you hate Seto?"

Seth looked at the boy strangely. "No. I do not hate him. If I did he'd be an unrecognizable bloody mess." He grinned maliciously. Mokuba visibly shook. Seth decided he did not want to frighten the child too much. "Do you know how you must leave this place?"

"Yes. By facing your greatest fear, am I right?"

"Correct." Seth shifted awkwardly. "Do you know what your greatest fear is?"

Mokuba shook his head. "I used to think that Seto being alone was it, but I realized a long time ago that even if Seto doesn't find that special someone that I'll always be there for him no matter what. So now I'm not sure anymore."

Seth nodded. "By the end of all of this you will know."

"You'd think that you could just get out of here, I mean you are a god right?" Mokuba asked as he felt some strange emotions begin pressing on his head. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"There are no exceptions in this realm." Seth said angrily. After a few moments of silence he laughed loudly. "I have nothing here. I hold vast power and yet am powerless to do anything. I've killed with my bare hands, ended and started wars with just words, I can make myself live for eternity and yet I am fooled easily by one small child who has a gift for seeing."

"I'm sorry. I-I just did what I thought was right." Mokuba looked to Seth and moved closer, hoping for warmth and not finding any. The pressure was starting to give him a headache. "Seth?" he asked carefully.

"Yes small one?"

"You won't leave me here will you?"

Seth didn't answer at first, but gradually with a sigh he did. "I'll try not to small one. I cannot guarantee anything."

"Thank you." Was all Mokuba could say before the feelings pressing on him broke and he fell into an unconscious state.

oOo

Jou landed uneasily on his feet and clutched the nearest thing in his reach to prevent falling over. "Why couldn't we just walk?" he moaned as a headache began to form directly between his eyes.

Seto ignored his question and waited for Jou to let him go and walk on his own. "This is my home." He said callously.

"Okay."

Seto snorted and decided to help Jou walk forward; he noticed with pleasure that even when Jou had recovered from his nausea he still clung to him. "I have to take you to the King. He was the one who sent me to find you in the first place."

"Oh really?" Jou didn't look forward to meeting the king of… wherever he was. Most kings were fat, snobbish, and were mostly drunk too much to the point that you could smell it on them at all times. It was sickening. He let go of Seto slowly and walked beside him. He followed Seto silently past a large whitewashed temple, through an empty courtyard filled with tangerine trees and into a huge stone castle. A little different than most of the places he'd been, but the change was refreshing.

As they walked on the stone floors, Jou became more and more aware of the people that would bow to Seto as they walked past. He slowed his pace slightly so that instead of walking next to Seto he was walking slightly behind Seto to his right.

When Seto noticed this he stopped walking and turned around to face Jou. "What are you doing?" he asked impatiently.

Jou blinked. "What I'm supposed to do… I'm showing rank." He answered uneasily.

Jou was surprised when Seto rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the crook of the arm and forced him to walk next to him. "As of now I'd like us to be equals."

"I uh…" his face turned a soft pink. "Okay."

The throne room was at the top of two grand staircases that converged together at the top, crimson livery was strewn about the walls and railings making the room feel more rich and grand than it already was. Seto pushed his way inside without announcing himself and drug Jou along with him. "Atemu." He called when they were inside the large, plush carpeted room.

Unlike what Jou was expecting, there was a young man sitting sideways on the throne, legs dangling over one arm. He wore a modest crown of gold and silken clothes. To Jou he looked rather… bored. And strangely familiar, but he wasn't sure how. When the young king saw them he stood out of his chair, smile on his face. "Seto! Welcome home." His face turned grim for a moment. "I've news of Mokuba. Have you anything to say of this?"

"We wait." Seto said reluctantly.

"What!" Jou winced as the king yelled. He felt that he should be the one to explain. Not Seto.

"Excuse me Your Majesty." Jou said and nearly made a horizontal bow. "There is no way to get someone out of the banishment realm until they complete the trail." He tried to explain hastily to the ground.

To his surprise, instead of being angry the king laughed. "You must be Jounouchi Katsuya." Jou righted himself and nodded. "Do you know of this banishment realm?" Again Jou nodded. "And we must wait for Mokuba to complete a trail?" Once more Jou nodded.

Seto hit him on the back of the head. "You can speak." He said in an agitated tone.

Jou chuckled lightly. "Yes, but you never know how long completing it will take." At the apprehensive look on the king's face he continued to explain further. "When I was in the banishment realm it took me… almost two years…" he said in a quiet voice. "But a good friend of mine, Ryn, she was sent there and came back in two hours." Jou shivered at the memory. When Ryn had returned she looked even more lifeless then when she had left, as if a part of her had been ripped from her soul.

Both King and Seto were quiet. Jou shifted uncomfortably. "Um, can I ask why I was summoned here?"

The young king looked to Jou then Seto. "He didn't tell you did he?" Jou shook his head. "Two reasons knight. One I'm offering you a position in my Kingdom as a Royal Knight of Domino." Before Jou could protest Atemu cut him off. "Second is simple. According to Mokuba, Seto loves you. So I wish for you to stay."

Jou looked over to Seto. The other hadn't moved an inch and his face remained stoic, but there was a slight tint of pink traveling across his cheeks and nose.

That was something he hadn't expected. Seto never said anything about love, the way Seth had so willingly proclaimed... He shook his head at the lack of response from Seto and refocused his attention to the king. "King Atemu, right?" Atemu nodded. "I accept your offer of your knight. I guess it's time for me to settle down. I've lived the life of a wanderer for far too long."

Atemu smiled. "That is excellent! I welcome you to our family Sir Jounouchi." Atemu looked around to find one of his chief advisors in the corner. The bent old man stepped forward and bowed to the king. "Make preparations! We will feast for the arrival of our new knight of the kingdom!"

The man bowed again and scurried out of the room. Jou moved a little closer to Seto, trying to make the other notice how nervous he was. He really did hate parties. As if on cue Seto turned to him and looked him over. "You'll be needing a bath first." He said and wrinkled his nose slightly.

Jou snorted. "What do you expect? I've been on the road for days, weeks even. It's not like pools of hot water appear out of nowhere on the roads." He scratched at his head nervously and noticed for the first time that his hair was slightly matted despite all of his finger brushing.

Atemu chuckled lightly. "Seto will show you to the baths." He gave the young king a grateful smile and followed Seto out of the room and through hall after hall.

"Here." Seto said and stopped in front of a plain wooden door. "This is my personal washroom." He said pridefuly.

Jou chuckled softly. He couldn't believe that Seto was proud to have his own personal washroom. He must not like bathing with people he didn't know or trust, which was the complete opposite of him. He wouldn't mind going stark naked in front of a group of complete strangers if it meant a good bath.

He pushed the door open and walked in slowly, taking everything in. He was surprised when Seto followed him inside and began to point everything out and told him that he'd have clothes similar to the ones he was wearing when he was finished. As Seto continued to explain Jou put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "It's a bath. It's not like I'm going to accidently drown myself."

Seto flushed slightly as if he hadn't realized what he had been doing. "I'll leave you to your own devices then." And with that he disappeared through the door.

Jou shook his head and smiled. He wondered what Seto would do when he realized that he didn't stop him until he started to repeat himself…

The bath was wonderful. The hot water seemed to melt away the tension that had been building between his shoulders. With a sigh of content he lifted himself from the waters and made his way to a small towel stand on the other side of the room. He grabbed one of the fluffy white towels and dried himself thoroughly. Only when he was finished did he see the stack of clothes on a stone table next to him.

He examined the articles with scrutiny. He wouldn't wear just anything. It had to be comfortable, easy to move in and contain at least something of leather for decent protection. He was glad that the outfit almost looked like exactly what he had been wearing earlier that day and put it on without hesitation.

Just as he was about to slip the final boot on, something shining slid from the boot and fell to the floor with a soft clang. He bent down and found his sisters necklace waiting for him. With a smile he picked it up and placed it around his neck before finishing dressing.

He played with the amulet as he left the washroom, still smiling to himself. He was surprised he had gotten it back at all, but it showed him one thing about Seto.

He kept his promises.

oOo

Ryou finished his prayers to Yah and stood, the stone before the alter scraping against his knees. He stifled a yawn and wished for most likely the millionth time that he didn't have to pray at night. He pulled his robes about him tighter as he left the temple to try and keep out the cool night air.

"_Serf." _An angry voice commanded in his head.

"Y-yes?" Ryou squeaked, unsure of what he had done wrong.

"_You must raise the followers. The time of the end is nearing."_

"W-what!" Ryou exclaimed. The time of the end is something he'd only read about in books. A theory of the gods faltering in their rule of the earth. "I'm not sure what you want Yah…"

"_Serf, gather all those willing to serve their god. Prepare for the worst. Do this and save all that you can." _ Yah's words sounded grave. Suddenly Ryou felt as if the weight of the world had been dropped onto his 

shoulders. Yah was telling him that by how he acted out on his words, people may lose their lives if he did something wrong.

"I-I… Why?" Ryou suddenly demanded only to have his link closed hastily. Never before had he wanted to cry as much as he did now. He stood up straight and went directly to the castle library. He had no choice but to save _everyone_.

He ran down the empty stone corridors as quietly and quickly as he could. He had taken off his shoes earlier to prevent the thudding sound of his thin boot soles on the stone. He reached the large red oak doors of the library huffing heavily. He pushed them open quietly and slipped inside, shutting the doors securely behind himself. He lit a small oil lamp and began to scan the shelves for a certain book that he knew would be of much use to him at the moment.

"_Beginnings and Ends"_ was the book he had found minutes later, dust collecting on the leather spine of the volume. He grabbed the book from the shelf hastily and moved to one of the many wooden tables scattered around the library.

As he turned the pages dust flew about causing him to cough slightly. Ryou scanned faded ink with weary eyes until he found exactly what he was looking for. He placed a pointer on the page and read it over and over again.

_The time of the end is the theory first proposed by Professor M. Pegasus. It is an uncomplex theory that the Four Gods will one day fail in their duties as our rulers, just as Kings and Queens have done in the past. When the Four fail there will be a loss in the balance of the Earth and all its races. Wars will rage between the Four and between the races. In all his years Professor M. Pegasus never found an alternate solution to such events. We are at the whims of our most Holy Gods and such a theory may never even come to happen._

Ryou snapped the book shut with a depressed sigh. So it was war that he had to prepare for? How could he save anyone in a war?

He placed the book back in its respective spot and searched for one with more tactical tastes. He knew the basics of warfare. Save the women and children of the homelands, men fight and lose their lives. He shook his head. There had to be a way to _prevent_ all of this from happening.

He would have to negotiate with the other High Priests. He would become commander, help all the wounded, try and stop the whole thing from ever happening in the first place. He just _had _to.

oOo

Bakura lay back on his bed in his darkened chambers. He absently tossed a throwing knife at a painting of his parents. They had died when he was a small child of only 3 to fend for himself. He gave a wicked grin when the tip of the knife had planted itself straight between his father's eyes. It had been two days since he had been severed from Seth, but strangely he could occasionally feel the presence of the god nearby.

The court had been in an uproar when they found this little tidbit out. Bakura was more than happy that he could pass the burden onto some other poor unsuspecting fool as he had been. He just wished that he could've captured his little mouse before his time was up.

"Your Grace Bakura." Came a snide voice from his door. He looked over to see both Marik and Malik standing waiting. Both wore identical faces of worry.

"Haven't you idiots heard yet? I'm not the High Priest any more." He threw another dagger near Malik's head and it splintered into his door frame. Malik didn't even flinch. "What do you want?" he growled when they didn't leave.

"Three days ago," Malik began as he walked seductively into Bakura's room and sat on his bed. "Our doctrine changed itself. No longer are we to guard that stupid empty tower. We come with a new mission."

Bakura sat up, giving his full attention to Malik. "What is it then? Spit it out already."

"We are to gather a war party and name you, ex-High Priest, as its general." Marik said from the doorway. His deep lavender eyes troubled. "I do not like this doctrine at all."

Malik nodded. "Neither do I. We have no choice but to do as the doctrine says."

Bakura lost his temper and threw his last knife at his wall with all his might. The knife bounced off the stone and clattered to the floor. "For fuck's sake! Why do I have to do everything around this damned place?" he growled and flopped back down to his bed. "Get the fuck out of my room before I fucking gut you both!"

Both Marik and Malik left him without another word. He pounded a fist into his mattress. What could Seth possibly want with a war party? And why the hell wouldn't he leave him _alone_? He took a few deep breaths but only felt himself grow more and more angry.

Of course it wouldn't be so bad to boss around a bunch of wannabe mercenaries, but a war party? What was this all about? What could Seth possibly want with something like that during this supposed time of peace?

That would mean the peace was… over?

He sat up abruptly. If that was true then this would mean that… what exactly did it mean? To him it meant killing others for something he really didn't believe in. It meant that he'd have to try and win for the sake of the people that were under him. And most importantly, it meant that his little mouse was trying to do the exact same thing.

He could never let such a horrible responsibility fall on the shoulders of someone so frail, so weak, so… comforting. He stood and moved to a clear desk. Concentrating on summoning his favorite quill and some parchment that he had stolen from a kingdom out west, he was deciding what exactly he would tell his little mouse.

**End Chapter Six**

_A/N: I'll be graduating High School in a few days, so now I have a lot of free time to get more done. Hopefully I can produce more chapters faster now. Reviewing would be nice for this senior!_


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